Serendipity
by beautyofdarklips
Summary: April is suddenly called to Seattle by her older sister. After she arrives, her whole world comes crashing down. Jackson may be the only one who is able to break through her walls. Will they realize their feelings for each other? As she does her internship, she navigates family drama, new friendships and love. Will change to rated M in later chapters. Semi-AU, semi-canon.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi guys! This is my new story. It's semi-AU, semi-canon! I just had this idea in my head and I've been writing like a mad person for the last week! I already have the first five chapters written and most of the story outlined! I'm thinking about updating the story every week or every two weeks! It all depends on what kind of a response this gets! –Mia **

**Chapter One: New Beginnings and Adjustments **

Sitting on the bench in front of her locker, April nervously fumbled with her hospital badge and marveled at its significance. She had already changed into her baby blue scrubs and her new white coat. Today was the day she had been looking forward to for the past eight years, even longer before that. She was finally a doctor. A surgeon, if she could call herself that already. Her older sister was a surgeon. Her brother-in-law was a surgeon and everyone in his family were doctors too. Having them as role models during her formative years, she had decided to pursue medicine pretty early on. Her original plan had been to stay on the east coast for her surgical residency. After all, that's where she had grown up and had gone to school. Mass Gen had offered her a spot in their surgical program. She had wanted to stay close to her family and her best friend, Lexie Grey, has also been planning on accepting a position at Mass Gen. However, that was then and this was now. Things had changed for the both of them. A desperate phone call from her older sister a few months ago had changed her plans. Her brother-in-law had packed up his bags and moved to Seattle and had taken up the position of Head of Neurosurgery. A couple months later, her older sister had followed him out west. April didn't know the details of the situation. Her sister hadn't been ready to tell her but, her sister had pleaded with her join her at Seattle Grace Hospital. Her sister hadn't given details but her desperation had left April anxious. And that was how April had found herself in this new, unfamiliar city. She was thousands of miles away from her home, further out west than she had ever ventured. The situation had called for a big move and April had had no other choice.

Things had changed for April and Lexie and they had packed their bags together and moved across the country. They needed to be closer to their families. Lexie had the comparative advantage in that she had actually grown up in Seattle. She had attended school on the east coast with April. But for April, being in an unfamiliar environment only increased her anxiety. She had only arrived in Seattle last week. And in that week, she and Lexie had been busy settling into the new apartment that they shared. Then, there was the intern mixer and orientation. She had been busy and hadn't yet gotten a chance to see her older sister and brother-in-law, the two closest people in the world to her. They were better surrogate parents to her than her own parents had been. Not knowing what was going on with them was only adding to her stress and anxiety. Her brain had been addled with theories she had come up with—both good, bad and worse situations. Was Addison pregnant? Had they finally decided to start a family in Seattle? Addison had always had a hard time starting a family with Derek. Or was one of them sick and that was why they refused to tell her anything on the phone? Why had they just picked up their well-established lives in New York and decided to move across the whole damn country? She wrung her hands tightly together, trying to calm herself down. Now was not the time to think about it…There was a time and place for everything, she reminded herself.

"Apes, let's go. It's almost time to go meet our residents. I know you don't want to be late on the first day." Lexie gave April's hand a tight squeeze and April squeezed her hand back. April nodded and followed Lexie out of the locker room. Lexie had just lost her mother at this very hospital. She'd recently discovered that her father had a daughter from a first marriage who was also a resident at this hospital. A sister who she'd had no idea about until recently. A sister who probably didn't want anything to do with her. But if losing her mother so unexpectedly had taught her anything, it was that she should hold on tightly to the bonds she had left.

They were sad, stressed messes. They weren't always like this. Granted, April had a tendency to get nervous and anxious. There was also the fact that April's life had always been a big mess since the day she was born, but she didn't want to dwell on that right now. There was a time and place for everything and she would be damned if she let herself have a nervous breakdown on her first day of work as a doctor all before her shift had even started.

The girls had met as freshman undergraduates at Harvard and they had hit it off almost immediately. They were best friends and were as close as sisters. Of course, they did have their own biological sisters. April's was 13 years older than her and more of a surrogate mother to her than a traditional sister. Lexie and her sister, the one she had grown up with, weren't too close. They simply wanted different things out of life. Lexie had pursued a career in medicine while her sister had gotten married at a young age and had already started a family. So, yes, April and Lexie were basically like sisters to each other in the more traditional sense and had been there for each other through every boyfriend, bad breakup, family drama, difficult exam and Harvard. That's why they had decided to move to Seattle together. They were both needed there and they needed each other too.

Despite coaching herself to calm down, April's nerves were starting to get to her. The only thing that could, perhaps, provide some solace at this moment was a bottle of vodka. But it was too early for that. It was only a little bit before 7am and they had yet to start their first 48-hour shift as surgical interns. She had only learned the name of her resident the day before. She didn't even want to think about how she felt about _him _being her resident. April and Lexie each took a deep breath and put smiles on their faces. Albeit, they were fake smiles but, they couldn't let the world know that.

April and Lexie arrived to the lobby of the surgical floor and were joined by their fellow interns. "Do you see that girl with dirty blonde hair over there? The one talking with the girl with the curly black hair?" Lexie murmured. April nodded in response. "Well, I think she's my sister. Her name is Meredith. Remember how I told you that, apparently, my dad was married to another woman before he met my mom?" April nodded again. "Well, she's my half-sister to be precise and I want to know her."

April hummed in understanding. "Do you remember Jackson Avery? He went to Harvard with us for undergrad and med school, except he was a year older? You dated his roommate?" Lexie nodded. "Well, he's standing over there. He's a surgical resident here too. Well to be precise, he's my supervising resident, meaning that I'm going to be working under him and he's my boss."

"Oh my god, no way! What a small world! I wonder if he remembers us. Damn, what are the odds that we would end up at the same hospital and that he would be your resident? This would be a wet dream for 20-year-old April." Lexie chuckled.

"Shut up! Don't let anybody hear you! Besides, that was like 6 years ago. I'm pretty sure he's forgotten about me. I mean, there's no reason for him to remember me. It's not like I was a significant person in his life. He was just Henry's roommate and he just knew me as your best friend. I'm just gonna be as professional as possible…" April rambled on.

"Relax, Apes! You're gonna be fine! He probably does remember you and that's fine if he does!" April nodded, trying to see her friend's point of view.

Jackson and the other residents in his group waited in the lobby of the surgical floor for the new class of interns to arrive. He and his friends were practically shaking with excitement. They would no longer be at the bottom of the surgical food chain. They finally had their own groups of interns to boss around. To pile on the scut work, charts and labs. However, Alex's and his excitement over the new class of interns was more precisely due to the prospect of new, attractive girls joining the staff of Seattle Grace's surgical department.

"I really hope there's gonna be some new hot interns to bang. I'm bored with the nurses and the residents at this hospital," Alex murmured. Jackson chuckled. He and Alex had become fast friends upon starting their surgical internships together at Seattle Grace Hospital. Although they came from different worlds, they had hit it off based on their mutual interest in medicine, sports, and girls. They both lived together with Meredith Grey and Izzie Stevens at the frat house.

"What? Are you saying that you're not tired of the attendings yet?" Jackson replied, grinning as he scanned the gathering crowd of interns for any potential girls. The new interns looked nervous, naïve, optimistic and eager to practice medicine. God, they looked like a bunch of babies. Had they been like this last year?

Alex grinned. "Nah, I don't have the hots for the attendings the same way Grey and Yang do. I'll admit that She-Shepard is hot, though. Montgomery-Shepard? What does she go by now?"

"I think she goes by just Montgomery now that divorce has been finalized," Jackson answered. "Well, what about you and Izzie? Or that Ava chick?"

"Whatever. Izzie still has her Denny issues and whatever she's doing with O'Malley and Ava's married." Alex chose not to elaborate further. "I need to move on and the new interns are perfect for hot hook ups in an on-call room or supply closet. The nurses are getting fed up with doctors all no thanks to Sloan."

Before Jackson could reply, they were interrupted from someone behind them. "There will be no such shenanigans going on in my hospital!" Dr. Bailey sternly reprimanded. Jackson and Alex sheepishly turned around to face their former supervising resident. The new second year residents may no longer be her intern babies, but Bailey felt a certain amount of responsibility for them. Plus, she couldn't handle them getting involved in even more scandals and having it reflect badly on her. She had had enough of that with them as interns. Though, she had to be thankful that Jackson Avery had given her the least trouble in terms of scandals out of the rest of her interns. She favored him the most amongst the group and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was an Avery. Miranda Bailey did not give into nepotism like that. She continued her tirade, "There will be absolutely no fraternizing with the interns, Karev and Avery. They are your students and you are their superiors and mentors. It is grossly unethical behavior and I will not tolerate it even if I am no longer your supervising resident. Need I remind you what Yang and Grey had to go through last year? Surely, I can depend on you gentlemen to maintain some level of class and decorum now that you are residents?" Bailed pointedly asked as she handed out the rosters of interns to the men.

"You will not be disappointed in us, Dr. Bailey." Jackson replied. He gave her a charming, reassuring smile. Bailey nodded at him and walked away to hand out the rest of the rosters. She knew she could depend on Avery.

"Kiss-ass!" Alex laughed and chided Jackson.

Jackson rolled his eyes in response. "Whatever. Just give her what she wants and she'll leave you alone. Dude, you gotta learn to be smooth and discreet like I am."

"Not everyone has the Avery charm that they can work like you do. You flirt with the nurses, paramedics, residents and even some attendings to get your way into any case. Anyways, you spot any girls yet?"

Jackson's eyes roved the crowd and the luscious auburn waves of a particular girl caught his eyes. The hair had caught his attention at first. The more he looked at her, the more familiar she seemed. Her features were striking, but not in the obvious, conventional way. She had a unique face, but she was gorgeous, Jackson decided. However, he couldn't exactly place where he had seen her before. She was looking at him too. Their eyes met briefly before they realized that they were staring at each other. She looked away quickly and Jackson noticed her pale cheeks reddening. He smirked. He could make a girl blush with just one look. He still had it in him. "That girl…." Jackson said, subtly motioning her to Alex.

"Yeah she's cute. But I dig the brunette with short hair standing next to her."

Jackson's eyes moved to the brunette friend standing next to the red head and chatting with her. He hadn't even noticed her at first. His eyes widened in shock. "Are you referring to Lexie Grey?!"

"Did you just say Lexie _Grey_?" Meredith questioned, as she, Christina and Izzie joined the men with their own rosters in their hands.

"Yeah, you know her? She went to Harvard for undergrad and med school with me, but she was a year younger. She dated a buddy of mine during undergrad, though. She used to be over at our house all the time while they were still together. She was quite popular at Harvard," Jackson replied.

"Yeah, I think she might be my sister. Well, not_ my_ _sister. _But, you know, I think she and I share the same biological father. I mean, I'm pretty sure that she's Susan's other daughter. She mentioned something about her once," Meredith murmured.

"Shit, I knew her at Harvard, but I never thought she could be related to you. I mean I know that the Grey name has meaning in the medical world, but she never said anything, so I just assumed that it was a coincidence that you guys shared the same last name."

"Right, because she's not related to my mother whatsoever. In fact, she's not related to me either." Meredith narrowed her eyes.

"Well, whatever. She's hot, so I call dibs on her, Avery." Alex piped in.

"Alex, there is no way you're hooking up with her. We hate her," Meredith snapped.

"Why do we hate her?" Izzie asked.

"Because we hate her. Ugh, she looks so happy and perky and that red head next to her looks even more happy and perkier next to her. They look they're about to combust into glitter, sunshine, and rainbows. I hate interns," Christina said.

"But we were just interns last year?" Izzie reminded her.

"And your point is?" Christina snapped. She looked down at her roster and noticed that Lexie Grey was in her group. "Looks like I've got her."

"Give her hell, Christina," Meredith replied.

Jackson shook his head at his squabbling friends and looked down at the list of names on his roster of interns for the first time and noticed a vaguely familiar name. "April….Montgomery?" The last named intrigued and confused him. "Montgomery…as in…?"

"Oh, god. The rumors must be true then. I heard from the mill that Addison has a younger sister and that she's coming here as an intern. I can barely handle the wrath of one red headed she-devil and now another has come to haunt me," Meredith answered. The group of residents noticed the resemblance between the sisters in their rich, luscious auburn waves.

"That must be the red head standing next to happy Grey," Alex motioned back to the interns. The group stared down at the intern duo.

"Did you just call her '_happy _Grey', Evil Spawn?" Christina snickered.

"Great. They look like besties. Looks like they've come to wreak havoc further into my life," Meredith muttered.

Before Jackson could reply to his friend, his attention was called by the Chief of Surgery, Dr. Richard Webber, giving the same spiel he gave to the new interns ever year.

The Chief of Surgery finished his speech and the chief resident started calling out the names of residents. The interns were supposed to join their groups as the names got called out. April and Lexie gave each other's hands one last squeeze of encouragement before they were called away. They could do this. They had prepared for this and they would get through it with each other's support.

"Dr. Jackson Avery!" The chief resident called out. April took a deep breath and walked forward to join her intern group and resident.

As his interns gathered around him, Jackson introduced himself to the group. "Hey you guys, I'm Dr. Jackson Avery."

Before he could go on, he was interrupted by an intern named Sarah Kim. "Avery as in Harper Avery?"

Jackson sighed in annoyance. He really couldn't go one day without someone mentioning his family or grandfather to him. "Yes, he's my grandfather. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't discuss my grandfather, family or the foundation with me. Anyways, let's get back to business…" Jackson motioned for his interns to follow him as he briefly showed them around. Dr. Bailey had been strict as a supervising resident, but he had learned a lot from her. To channel the same vibes the fifth year resident gave off, Jackson started listing off the very same rules that she had recited to her interns on their very first day. He listed the first four rules and paused, briefly looking at April for a second. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he knew her from somewhere. He looked at her for a second and noticed that she was looking around the hospital in awe. However, he was brought back from his trance when one of his interns interrupted his thoughts.

"Okay, but what's the fifth rule then?" One of the interns asked Jackson. He remembered that his name with Andrew Freeman.

Jackson was stumped for a second. When Dr. Bailey had given them the spiel last year, her stating the last rule had been momentous with her getting paged right away. "The fifth rule is that, when I run, you run." Jackson replied. Five pairs of eyes stared at him, waiting for him to go further on. It was pretty intimidating, to be honest. An awkward, silent moment passed. He had five pairs of eyes staring at him, expecting something great out of him. Jackson cleared his throat. "Right. Anyways, we can get started already. Freeman and Ali, you're on labs for the patients in 4032 and 3026. Kim and Gonzalez, you're on scut." He was greeted by grim faces and soft, subtle groans from his interns. "Yeah I know it sucks, but you guys are pretty much incapable of doing anything at this point. Besides, this is how you learn," He sternly addressed the group.

"What about me?" April questioned.

"What about you?" Jackson replied.

"You gave everyone else something to do, but me. What should I be doing?" April clarified.

She had thrown Jackson off. All throughout his spiel to his new interns, he had felt her eyes staring at him, burning into him. Her presence made him nervous somehow and it wasn't often that Jackson Avery found himself nervous. He was still trying to put a finger on how he knew her or where he had seen her before. He had an inkling that it may have something to do with Harvard, since he had seen her chatting with Lexie Grey and he had already identified her friend. Her name had sounded familiar and not because she was somehow related to Meredith's boyfriend. He just couldn't put a finger on how they already knew each other. Jackson had been meaning to get her alone somehow. He needed to figure out where he already knew her from. It was bothering him too much at this point.

Jackson cleared his throat. "Right, you can-"

"Little Red, is that you?! Wow, I haven't seen you in such a long time! Damn you grew up." Mark Sloan's boisterous voice called out, as he gave a low whistle. He had always flirtatiously teased April—that was just their relationship. Jackson, April and pretty much the everyone else's head turned to the sound of the loud man's voice.

**A/N: Alright, well that's chapter one! Please let me know what you think! So obviously, April is Addison's little sister in this story. She has a much different up bringing than what we've seen in the show. However, I tried to characterize her as close to canon as possible—hence, the ramblings, nervousness and insecurity. Also, Jackson is a part of the original intern group at Seattle Grace. Anyways, please give me a follow/favorite /review! I'd love to hear what you think of it so far! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you so much for the love on Chapter One! I'm floored by the love it has received. It's really encouraging. Here is Chapter Two! **

**Chapter Two: A Heaping Teaspoon of Shock **

"She's Addison's _baby sister_, you asshole!" Derek, who had been standing near him, called out.

"Hey, relax man. She's kind of like my kid sister too. It's not like I'm planning on sleeping with both Montgomery sisters…" Before Mark could say anything more, Derek's fist connected with Mark's jaw, earning several gasps of shock form others in the lobby. Mark wasn't going to just take that. He shoved Derek back which earned him another hit. April was shocked and confused. What was going on? Derek and Mark were best friends; they had been for the last 20 years. What were they doing fighting like this? And at the hospital too? In front of everyone, all of their coworkers? April noticed her own sister and the girl that Lexie had pointed out as her sister rushing to the scene to break it apart. Meredith Grey pulled Derek back while Addison pulled Mark back.

"Hey! Why are you getting so mad at me for? You can't still be over protective of April! You and Addison are divorced now. Now you're with Meredith…"

April, who had been rooted to the spot in shock and silent through this whole violent exchange, finally let out a loud gasp. She finally spoke up softly. So soft that only the people standing closest to here heard her. "Wait, what? _Divorce_? Is that—why—I haven't heard from you any of you guys in months? You didn't even tell me anything…you just told me that I had to come to Seattle…you were hiding all of it from it from me…" Everyone turned to look at the person whose presence had triggered this whole debacle in the first place. April noticed everyone's eyes on her and she couldn't take it. She couldn't process it. She couldn't breathe. She felt her airway close and she just needed to get out of there before she collapsed on the spot. Without a second thought, she quickly turned away, escaping from all of the attention. She didn't care that she was technically supposed to be working right now. She just needed to find a quiet space and be alone for a bit.

"Wait, Apple!" Derek and Addison called out.

Lexie approached them. "Maybe now is not a good time. Just give her some space. It's a lot to process. Umm, I'm gonna go after her." Derek and Addison nodded at her.

Lexie approached Christina, her own supervising resident, and Jackson, who were standing by each other. "Umm, I know it's a lot to ask for, but can you excuse me for the next hour or so, Dr. Yang?"

"Yeah, you can go, Three. I don't care, but don't take too long or you'll be on scut for an entire week."

Lexie nodded in response and then approached Jackson. "Surely, you can cut her some slack on her first day, given what just happened? Please, Jackson, for old time's sake?"

"Yeah, just go make sure she's okay," he replied. Lexie scurried away, running after her friend.

After searching for a few minutes, Lexie found April having a panic attack in the supply closet. April was sitting on the floor, behind a tall shelf. Her back leaned against the wall and she had pulled her knees up to her and wrapped her arms around herself tightly. She was breathing heavily and tears were rolling down her face. She was shaking and Lexie's heart broke upon seeing her best friend like this. Lexie slowly approached her and put an arm around April's shoulder. "April? I'm here for you." April let her in and Lexie simply held her best friend tight until her breathing came back to the normal and the tears stopped. "Apes, do you want to talk about it?"

"Lex, I don't even know what to say. I mean I knew that something bad was up. Addison and Derek both have been kind of evading my questions for months. I wasn't getting any explanation for why they had just both decided to move to Seattle all of a sudden. Then, Addy called me up, a couple months ago, and told me that she was going through something and that I should come here for my residency. She told me that she needed me here with her but didn't give me much besides that. Lex, you have to understand that Addy isn't just my sister. I mean you're like my sister. But Addy? She's like a mother to me. She's 13 years older than me. And you know how absent my parents are and what my family situation is like. My parents weren't going to have kids after Addy. Their marriage was already broken by the time I came along, so they didn't really care about me, leaving Addy to take care of me. She's my everything. Even when she was going through college and then medical school, she was always there for me. You know, she met Derek when they were 20 years old. I've known him since I was seven, most of my life! He's like an older brother, actually more like a father figure. He protected me too. They took care of me together and I depended on them. They were my role models growing up too. I pursued a career in medicine because of them. My parents' marriage was toxic and it was difficult to live through. Addy always shielded me as much as she could. I didn't believe in love growing up, but Derek and Addy's relationship gave me hope. If she found someone like him, maybe I could someday find someone who finds me worthy. But now? They're _divorced. _It's already finalized. Apparently, she slept with Mark, who by the way is Derek's best friend. He was best man at the wedding! I was the maid of honor and it was a little odd for a 13 year old and 26 year old to walk down the aisle behind my sister and her husband, but we made it work! Mark needed us too. We were a weird dysfunctional family, but a happy family." April cleared her throat before she continued. Lexie just quietly listened. April needed to get it off her chest. For once, Lexie was going to let April's long rambling continue. "Addy slept with Mark. I mean, how could she do that? After what we went through with our father? They're already divorced. And Derek's with someone else now? Your older sister too? By the way, I'm not mad that it's your sister that Derek's with now. It's not like it's your fault. It's just difficult, because they've always been my little happy dysfunctional family. But, apparently, that's gone and I don't have a family anymore. I'm alone now." April finished her monologue and took a deep breath.

Lexie rubbed her friend's arm. "Apes, don't say that you don't have a family anymore. They all made a mistake. They're still your family." Lexie took a deep breath. "Sometimes, good people do terrible things, but that doesn't make them bad people. You need to talk to Addison and Derek and smooth things out. They may not love each other anymore, but I know that they still have one thing in common: you. They love you so much and I know that they don't want to lose you. Derek may not be married to your sister anymore, but I don't that'll stop him from still being your older brother."

April nodded. "I don't know, you might be right."

Lex giggled. "Girl, you know I'm _always _right."

April giggled back, her mood was already lightened by Lexie's words and presence. "Sure you are."

"Okay, we've been here long enough. I guess we should get back to our residents. By the way, my resident, Christina Yang is terrible. She refuses to learn our names and is going to call us by numbers and, apparently, I'm 'Three'" Lexie scrunched up her nose in annoyance with her resident. "But enough about me. What about you? How's Pretty Boy?" Lexie asked, waggling her eyebrows up and down.

"Ugh!" April groaned in frustration and rambled. Lexie decided to give her friend a free pass with her ramblings today. The girl deserved a break. "Don't remind me! I don't even want to deal with him on top of all this shit with my sister and Derek. I can't even decide if I want him to remember me or not. I know you dated Henry way back when and we didn't really see him a whole lot after you and Henry broke up, but we was always there! Hell, I think I only met him only a few times while you were dating Henry. A year above us, but a constant presence at Harvard, even though he was year above. He probably never noticed me afterwards. I may have had a thing for him back then, but that is a thing of the past.."

Lexie teased April. "You never know. This may be the perfect opportunity to rekindle your romance."

April groaned. "There was never any romance between us, Lex! It was just a stupid school girl crush on my part, and him never taking notice of my existence. I'm long over that. Besides, let me remind you that he's my _supervising resident_ now, meaning that he's kind of my boss. So, there will be none of that."

"Alright, alright. Let's just head out of here already. They're probably wondering where we are. After all, we still have like 47 hours left of this 48 hour shift."

April and Lexie exited the supply closet together. Alex and Jackson, who were standing just down the hall, spotted them. "What do you think those two were doing in there for so long?" Alex said, smirking.

"Probably trying to process all the shit that just went down between Sloan and Shepard. It's a lot to have on her plate," Jackson said.

"Oh, don't get sappy with me here, Avery! Just work with me! Two hot chicks coming out of a supply closet together after being locked away in there for so long? The possibilities are countless." Jackson started imagining it right away and tried to snap out of it.

"Come on, man. Don't be that crude. You saw what happened in front of everyone. It was a damn mess and everything just exploded for her. Oh shit, stop talking about this now. They're walking over here." Jackson said as he eyed the intern duo walking his way. Jackson cleared his throat, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. He didn't want them to know that he and Alex had just been discussing them being in the closet together.

"I'm going to go find my resident. See you at lunch, Apes." Lexie murmured to her friend, as she eyed the two residents giving her and her friend odd looks. "Long time, no see. Nice seeing you again, Jackson," Lexie nodded her head at Jackson in acknowledgement and grinned at him before walking away. April nodded to Lexie and watched her go.

"Gotta go, man," Alex murmured to Jackson.

"Dr. Avery, I'm so sorry for running out of there like that. It was really unprofessional of me and it won't happen again," April assured him. "I'm ready to work. Where do you need me?"

Jackson nodded. "Don't worry about it. I understand that you had some extenuating circumstances. You can…" And just then Jackson got a page telling him that he was needed in the pit. A new trauma was coming in. "… just follow me to the pit. There's a trauma coming in. It's your lucky day. I might even allow you to scrub in and observe the surgery if you're good." He said as he started walking towards the pit.

April's eyes widened in shock. _Holy shit, he was going to let her possibly scrub in on her first day? _April rushed after him, struggling to match his long, wide strides. Maybe this day wasn't entirely doomed, she thought.

Down at the pit, Jackson promptly starting putting on a yellow gown. April, still adjusting to the protocol at hospital, was going at a slower pace. "Here, let me help you," Jackson murmured to her. April nodded and she nervously turned her back towards him.

Jackson took the ties of the gown from April's hand and began tying it behind her neck. Her hair had already been pulled back into a pony tail, exposing the back of her neck. As Jackson worked a delicate knot at the back her neck, his cool hands softly, unintentionally grazed the back of her warm neck. April felt shocks of electricity as Jackson's fingers made subtle contact with her skin. She pursed her lips, willing her body not to react. This was not the time, nor the place. Not to mention that this was completely inappropriate. And it was an innocent touch too! He was just helping her with the yellow gown, she reminded herself. No, she couldn't let herself get so wound up just by something as simple as this. She wouldn't allow herself to.

However, the moment wasn't only felt by April. Jackson noticed it too. He let his fingers hover for an extra two seconds. He noticed the slight flush of her pale skin. How loose, thin baby red hairs grazed the back of her neck. How soft her skin was. He snapped out of it when Dr. Bailey approached them. He cleared his throat and let go her. "Um, it's done."

April nodded and took a step away from him, deciding that it would be best to maintain some space between them.

"What do we got, Avery?" Bailey called out.

"Incoming trauma. There should be three patients coming in. I got one and Karev and Stevens have the other two. Looks like a collision between two vehicles." Izzie and Alex arrived with their own interns.

Bailey nodded. "Alright, you're second year residents. Make me proud. Remember: see one, do one, teach one." The junior doctors nodded.

"Follow me. I already know we're going to the get the best one." Jackson motioned to April.

As three ambulances came in, the doors busted open and the paramedics rushed out to give the stats to the waiting doctors. "What do we got, Nicole?" Jackson called out.

"Gary Jones. Male, age: 42. Unresponsive at the scene of the accident. Bleeding from the head. Blocked airway as well. He has tenderness and swelling in the left leg. Might be a break."

"Alright, page Neuro, Ortho and Cardio as well," Jackson called out to the nurse. "Thanks, Nicole. You did great," Jackson flashed a charming smile at the paramedic which didn't go unnoticed by April.

"You know I always got you, Avery," Nicole the paramedic replied while grinning back at Jackson. April willed herself to ignore the subtle exchange.

Jackson rushed the patient into Trauma Room 1 and April followed after him. Jackson took scissors and cut the patient's shirt. He started assessing the patient right way. "His airway is blocked, so there's going to be no way for us to intubate. We're going to have to do an emergency tracheotomy. Dr. Montgomery come over here. You're doing this"

"Me?! I'm not sure if I'm qual-" April squeaked in alarm. She hadn't expected to be able to make her first cut on her first day. She was not prepared for this.

"Yes. You can do this. You're a doctor and I'm going to be here every step of the way. I've got you," Jackson said to her. His blue-green eyes pierced into April's and she gulped. Her heart hammered against her chest and she wasn't sure if it was because she was about to perform an emergency tracheotomy or because of Jackson's belief in her to do this or because of the way his blue-green eyes pierced into hers.

"Okay, just guide me through this." April nodded as she positioned herself by the patient's neck. "Scalpel, please," she called out to the nurse.

"Okay you're just going to make an incision right there. Put enough pressure, but not too much. You'll know how much once you start. You have to feel for it. Okay, good. Now expose the trachea." Jackson softly murmured. "Okay, now insert the tube. Gently. The tissue is fragile here. Apply less pressure. There, you've got it." Jackson and April looked at each other for a moment and smiled.

"Oh my god, I did it," April murmured.

"Good job, April! Addison and I always knew you'd do well in surgery," Derek complimented as he came into the room after witnessing what April had just done.

April scowled at him and refused to acknowledge his complement. "What do we got here, Avery?" Derek asked. Jackson listed off the patient's status. "Okay, it looks like we'll need to go in and control the brain bleed and alleviate some of the cranial swelling and pressure. You can scrub in, Dr. Avery. You too, April. I've already paged Cardio and Ortho to meet us up in the O.R. We'll operate simultaneously to give him the best chances at survival."

April pressed her lips. She'd rather not be trapped in an O.R. for a few hours with her now ex-brother-in-law. However, she couldn't give up the chance to scrub in, especially on her first day. This was possibly the only thing that could improve her day after the morning that she had. Without thinking about it more, she followed Jackson and Derek up to the O.R. floor.

**A/N: Alright, what did you guys think of that? The secret's finally out and April and Jackson finally got to interact a little bit! Let me know what you think! Reviews/follows/favorites would be greatly appreciated! –Mia **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you for the love on chapter two! Here's chapter three! I hope you all like it! **

**Chapter Three: Rooftop Reminiscing **

Three hours later, April was on a high. She could almost ignore the fact that she had had to scrub into a surgery with Derek. Just almost. The tension between them had been palpable, enough to cut through with a scalpel. Jackson, the scrub nurses, anesthesiologists and the others in the O.R. had been silent, sensing the tension between April and Derek. They had all either seen the family drama unfold or had already heard about it through the grapevine. To her relief, Derek didn't speak to April directly about what had happened earlier while he performed the surgery. April had stayed her distance in the O.R. while observing the surgery. At one point, he had called her over to hold one of the instruments as he worked on mitigating the patient's cranial pressure. And April had done her job perfectly. After all, this was her place of work and she needed to stay professional.

After scrubbing out, she escaped the O.R. as fast as she could. Derek called out to her, asking if they could finally talk, and she ignored him. She wasn't going to let the situation ruin her current mood. She was on a post-op high after her very first surgery and she wasn't going to let anyone or anything bring her down from it. She quickly walked down the hallway, racking her brain for where she could escape off to.

Jackson followed after her. He grabbed her arm to get her attention, startling her in the process.

"What?" April nearly jumped back in surprise. She pulled her arm back as she hadn't seen who had grabbed her. She hadn't expected Jackson to just approach her and grab her arm like that. Given the day she had, she had been expecting it to be Addison, Derek, or even Mark.

"Come on. I have a place that I'm going to show you and no one else knows about it," Jackson told her. He started guiding her towards the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor once they got inside.

April raised her eyebrow and gave Jackson an odd look. "You're not some creepy serial killer, are you? Is this the part where you whisk me away to some secret hiding place that no one knows about and murder me with your scalpel?"

Jackson chuckled. "No, trust me. I'm not a weird, creepy serial murder. This is going to put you in a better mood. Might even take your mind off things."

"Okay, then lead the way," April replied as she followed after him. Once they got to the top floor, he grabbed her arm and led her to an empty hallway that led to a discreet door which revealed a staircase behind. "Where are we going? This is starting to look a little suspicious. Are you sure you're not about to murder me?" April teased him.

"You ask too many questions. Just follow me and you'll see. I promise you'll be pleasantly surprised," Jackson replied. Behind the door, there was a stairway. They went up the two flights of stairs and found another door. Jackson opened the door and revealed what lied behind. April gasped when she saw the view.

They were on the roof of the hospital and it offered a nice view of the Seattle skyline. April wandered the area for a couple minutes to take in the sight. She could even vaguely see the Space Needle off in the distance. Even the helipad for the emergency helicopters were placed at a lower platform at a different part of the hospital. The roof where Jackson and April were standing was the highest point at the hospital. It was quiet and serene on the hospital's rooftop. The only noise came from Seattle's hustle and bustle a short distance away. There wasn't a soul nearby to judge, pity or bother her. For the first time all day, April finally felt completely at peace. She could finally breathe easily.

Jackson had already settled on to a raised platform and was sitting. He patted the spot next to him and motioned for April to join him. They sat comfortably in silence and admired the peaceful reprieve the rooftop offered from the chaos of the hospital. April sighed happily. She was only focusing on her post-surgery high, the view of Seattle from the hospital's rooftop and Jackson's presence. She finally broke the silence between them. "Does it always feel like this after surgery?"

"Like what?" Jackson replied.

"This high! I feel like I'm on top of the world—both literally and figuratively! That was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! I don't understand why people would do drugs if surgery can give you this type of a high!" Jackson chuckled at her outburst. April smiled widely and Jackson's face mirrored hers.

"Yeah, that feeling kind of never goes away. I still remember how I felt after my first surgery. Sure, there are tough days where you lose patients, but nothing beats the feeling of saving someone's life. There's just a certain rush that comes with being in the O.R."

"Thank you for letting me scrub into that surgery. And that tracheotomy too. I knew you were taking a risk why you let a fresh new intern like me do a procedure."

"Hey, you rocked it. All I did was guide you a little bit, but you knew what to do."

April nodded at him. They stared out at the view. It wasn't a particularly sunny day in Seattle; that was normal. However, it was warm and the fresh air felt relaxing. April and Jackson sat in silence for a few moments. It wasn't awkward, though. They were simply just enjoying the quiet peace and serenity that the hospital's rooftop offered. It was a stark contrast to the hectic hustle and bustle of the hospital.

After a few more moments, Jackson just threw it out there. "I know this is going to sound really lame and cheesy, but I can't help but feel like we've already met before. I just can't figure out from where."

April chuckled. "It is a really cheesy and lame line, but you're right. We have met before."

"We have?"

"Mhmmm".

"You know Lexie Grey." He said it more as a statement than a question. It was clear that April and Lexie were close.

"Yes."

"Did you go to Harvard?"

"Yup, for undergrad and med school."

"Wait really?"

"Yes, really," April chuckled at Jackson's disbelief.

"You're not going to make this easy for me, huh?"

"Nope."

"So, you were a year below me at Harvard?"

"Yes, Dr. Avery. It's really not that hard to figure out. You remembered Lexie, but completely forgot about me. I guess I'm just that forgettable. I can't say that I'm not a little offended." April lightly laughed to make him think she wasn't being serious. However, in truth, she was a little peeved that Jackson Avery had perfectly remembered Lexie from back in the day, but had completely forgotten about her. She tried not to feel hurt buy it though. She got it. She usually didn't really make a lasting impression on people anyways. She was forgettable.

"Oh, come on! It's not like I completely forgot about you. I definitely remember you from somewhere. I'm just having trouble placing you. Come on, just throw me a bone. Give a small hint, please?" Jackson threw her that charming smile of his. She knew exactly what he was doing but she gave into his smile anyways.

"Alright, fine. Well, Lexie dated Henry Anderson back in undergrad. He was your roommate back in the day. You and him and a couple of other guys lived in a house back then."

"Right." Jackson still wasn't following.

"Well, I've been Lexie's best friend and roommate since the first day of freshman year of undergrad at Harvard. When she was dating Henry, I would sometimes come with her to your guys' house. Lexie introduced us once. You probably saw me a couple times with her at your house, but they were brief meetings. Do you remember that party? I think it was sometime in November? I would have been a junior and you would've been a senior. It was like six years ago," April tried to jog his memory. "Anyways, there was some party at your guys' house and I came along with Lexie. At one point in the night, we were talking, but then you accidentally spilled your drink all over me."

"Oooh, now I remember! Oh wait, _oh._" Jackson was mortified. This was that girl. How could he ever forget that girl? He remembered everything now. He had been uncharacteristically drunk at that party. He had felt like celebrating and letting loose that night because his interview at Harvard had just happened that week and he had been positive that he would get into their medical school. He had been talking to April that night. They had met a couple times before, but he had mainly just known her as Henry's girlfriend's best friend. He had thought she was cute and had decided to strike up a conversation with her in his drunken haze. She had been drinking too that night, but he had drunk way more than her. He hadn't even noticed his hand tilting his cup so wayward at first. He hadn't noticed until he had sloshed a bunch of beer onto the front of her dress, practically dousing her. April had gasped in shock, the cool temperature and wetness of the beer surprising her. Jackson had profusely apologized to her and had tried to make the situation a little bit better. After she had tried to clean up the dress in the bathroom to no avail, she had grabbed Lexie and left the party early. He hadn't really seen April after that. Lexie and Henry broke up soon after, so there was no longer any reason for the girls to come by the house. Jackson hadn't really noticed her on campus after that. How had he missed her?

April giggled at the clear look of shock at his face. "You know, I still can't believe you forgot me."

Jackson groaned. "Okay, I seriously did not forget about you. Now that you've jogged my memory, I am completely mortified. I know it's been years since then, but I'm really sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's all water under the bridge."

"Ugh," Jackson groaned. "I can't believe I got that wasted that night. I'm still so sorry about spilling a drink all over you. Seriously, I'm so embarrassed. It's so unbecoming for an Avery." Jackson scrunched up his nose in disgust with himself.

April giggled in response. "Ah yes, I'm sure typical college boy behavior completely tarnished the Avery family name. Catherine Avery must be ready to disown you."

"Well, maybe not my mother, but perhaps my grandfather." Jackson chuckled. "You know, you're the first person to mention my mother first instead of my grandfather because of his award and him being the chairman of the whole foundation and everything."

April nodded. "Yeah, I know of him and his name and prestige, but I don't really know him personally. Um, Dr. Avery, your mom, I mean, she started doing guest lectures at Harvard last year and I used to attend all of them. She's pretty amazing. She kind of mentored me and helped me to apply for residency programs. You know, I was actually going to accept a position at Mass Gen's surgical program at first. Lexie and I were both supposed to. Coming here was kind of a last minute decision for me."

"I'm sure my mother would've loved that. I was always pressured into accepting a position at Mass Gen's residency program too. My grandfather wanted me to stay in Boston and carry on the family legacy. He was even saving a spot for me at their surgical program, but I just wanted to come out here and make a name of my own without my family around. Even when I first started working here, I felt like I had to work extra hard to make people believe that I got a spot at Seattle Grace's residency program because of my merit and not because of my family."

"I can totally understand that. I mean, my whole family, or should I now say lack thereof, is here and it's making me miserable. I don't really have family pressure like you do, but it's not easy either," April said with a slight frown on her face as she looked out at the skyline in the distance.

"Hey, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I mean I've been working at the hospital for the last year, so I was there when all of the drama between Meredith, Sloan, Shepard, and your sister was going down. So I can guess that it's a lot to take in. It seems like you only just found out today."

April nervously chewed on her bottom lip while contemplating whether she should risk telling Jackson anything too personal about herself. However, she felt like she could relax around him and trust him with a little bit of information. Without elaborating or going into it more, April replied. "Addison is 13 years older than me which is a huge difference between siblings. And, um, she kind of basically raised me, you know? Same with Derek. I've known him and his family since I was seven years old. I've known Mark for a long time too. They're just kind of the only family I really have, but I guess I don't really have that either anymore. I had no idea before this morning either. This morning, what happened in front of everyone, that's when I found out. I was suspicious that something was going on, but they all evaded my questions for months." April's voice cracked towards the end.

Jackson nodded in understanding. He noticed how vulnerable April looked in that moment. "I don't want you to think you're alone. It seems to me like you've got Lexie and I'm here too. I mean it. I may be your supervising resident, but I'm your friend too and I mean that. If you need anything, just come to me. If you ever need a space to just think and escape the hectic drama that often plagues the hospital, just come up here. I'm pretty sure that only I ever come up here. Plus, it looks like Shepard, Sloan and your sister want to make things right with you. If you ask me, I don't think you've lost them as your family."

April nodded in understanding and smiled at him. "Thank you, Dr. Avery. That means a lot. Thank you for sharing this place with me."

Jackson groaned. "Oh my god, you don't need to call me Dr. Avery. Just call me Jackson. If we're friends, you're allowed to call me Jackson."

"Okay, but only when it's just the two of us or we're outside the hospital. I can't have people thinking you're playing favorites with me just because you spilled a drink all over me back in college." April giggled.

"Okay, fine. Just don't mention that spilled drink again. I'm still so embarrassed about that whole situation. I'll even buy you a drink sometime." Jackson quickly realized it sounded like he was asking her out. "To make up for that spilled drink, of course."

"Sounds like a deal," April agreed.

It's not that Jackson wasn't interested in April. He had been interested in her that night, and seeing her again now made him realize that he was still interested in her even now. There was just something about her. Her auburn waves. Her bright smile and her soft giggles. However, things could become complicated if he wasn't careful. Meredith and Christina had gotten into so much trouble for getting involved with attendings as interns. He may not be an attending, but he was still April's supervising resident and direct senior. That meant that he was still kind of her boss.

"So, how did you even discover this place?" April asked. Her question pulled Jackson out of his thoughts.

"It's kind of hard to explain. A couple months into my intern year, I lost a patient and it kind of took a toll on me. I was really upset that day, so I was just kind of aimlessly wandering around the hospital for a while. I found this random door at the end of this quiet hallway and it led to an isolated stairway. So, I went up the staircase and I randomly discovered this rooftop. I'm pretty sure no one else at the hospital even knows about this place—except for maybe the Chief. Anyways, I come up here whenever I need a moment to think or need to escape the hospital's chaos."

April hummed in understanding. "I love it up here. It's so quiet and peaceful. Seriously, thank you for brining me up to your little place."

"I've never brought anyone up here before, except for you. It just looked like could really use a place to think and be alone for a moment too. So, it's your little place now too."

April genuinely smiled at him. "Thank you, Jackson."

Jackson received a page. He checked it and realized he needed to start post-ops on the trauma patient that had come in this morning. "We should get going."

"Yeah, of course. Thank you so much for brining me here. It really got my mind of things and put me in a better mood."

"Oh, it's no problem, April. You're welcome to come up here by yourself anytime if you just need to some alone time or a space to think. And don't forget: I'm here for you too if you ever need me."

April smiled at him. The first real, genuine, pain-free smile she had given the whole day so far. "Thanks again, Jackson." His paper went off again. "We should probably head down. I don't want to get you into trouble." As they headed back together, Jackson gave her instructions for a patient who needed close monitoring and labs.

Later, when she finally got a chance to think about going up to the rooftop with Jackson, April marveled at how easy it was to simply just talk to him. She felt comfortable around him. However, she didn't want to get _too _comfortable around him. They were friends—only friends—and it would stay that way. At least, that's what April told herself. Sure, they had shared a moment on the rooftop, but she wasn't going to let herself get overwhelmed by that.

**A/N: So what did you think? Jackson and April finally got a chance to really talk. And now we know how they already kind of know each other. Please leave me a review, I'd love to know what you guys think of the development/pacing of the story so far! What do you think is going to happen next? **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hi, you guys! Here's chapter four! I have to say, I'm a little disappointed with the response that chapter three got. I didn't get nearly as much reviews and not many people followed/favorited the story after reading that chapter. Do you guys like the story so far? Please let me know! It's my birthday this weekend. So, as a present, please leave me a review and favorite/follow this story? I would love that! **

**Chapter Four: Cafeteria Cliques **

At lunch, Jackson sat with his friends and discussed their new interns.

"Can't believe you got stuck with O'Malley as your intern, Mer," Alex grumbled as he messily took bites of his sandwich.

"I honestly just feed awkward about the whole thing. How am I supposed to boss him around. He's one of us!" Meredith replied.

"Why isn't he sitting with us? He's sitting with the interns, but he's one of us! He should be with us!" Izzie said.

"Oh, boohoo! He failed the intern exam! He needs to deal with it. Ugh, all of mine are a bunch of idiots. I'm not going to let them touch any of my patients, unless I want them to kill someone. I'm not even going to bother to learn their names," Cristina gleefully said. "Mer, the other Grey was an hour late after having to handle the blubbering mess that was Little Red. Maybe she just cries a lot and isn't as perky as we originally thought."

"Little Red?" Jackson questioned.

"Yeah, that's what McSteamy called her. It's less of a mouthful than 'mini-she devil' or 'mini Montgomery' so it's sticking," Christina said.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that. How McDreamy punched McSteamy and Little Red ran out crying. Didn't you say that you might know her, Jackson?" Izzie asked.

"Everyone in the hospital has probably heard about this by now. That's all anyone can talk about today. I'm just annoyed that I wasn't there to witness Shepard knock out Sloan," Alex said.

Jackson swallowed his bite before replying to his friends. "Yeah, she and Lexie went to Harvard for undergrad and med school like me. They were both a year below me, though. Lexie dated one of my roommates for a little while in undergrad, which is why I remembered her better. They're both nice girls. They're pretty smart too," Jackson offered, hoping that the group might go a little easy on them.

"You guys are all rich Ivy League snobs," Alex grumbled before Christina cut in.

"Pssh, being nice gets you nowhere in life. Plus, we're all surgeons here. Of course, they need to be _at least _smart; it doesn't make them special. Did McDreamy tell you anything juicy, Mer?" Christina asked. Four pairs of eyes looked up at Meredith, expecting an explanation for the uncanny events of the morning.

"I'm a little ticked because the last time Derek reacted this way, Mark was hitting on _me._ I'm not even sure he reacted this way when he caught Mark and Addison in the act. I thought they, Derek and Mark, I mean, were kind of working past things," Meredith sighed. "But then he tried to explain his behavior by telling me Little Red's sob story."

"What is it?" Izzie asked. Jackson became uncomfortable with the turn of events in the conversation. April had talked to him this morning, but she hadn't offered any explicit details. It had been clear that she hadn't been willing to. Derek had made the mistake of confiding about April to Meredith and everyone knew that the twisted sisters were incapable of keeping any secrets, unless they were their own.

"Apparently, Derek and Addison practically raised her. You know she's a lot younger than them as siblings. He told me that Addison and April have _really _difficult parents—like her dad sleeps with his secretaries and her mom is just absent. April came to live with Derek and Addison sometime while she was in high school. He said that neither girls have really talked to them for several years. So, Derek and Addison are basically like her parents. April practically worships the ground Addison walks on. I can't imagine why she would look up to the she-devil so much," Meredith snickered before continuing on. "Anyways, it's probably difficult to digest the fact that the sister you worship is a philandering whore who slept with her husband's best friend, especially when she dealt with her dad growing up." Jackson tried to digest that information. He hadn't been close with April back at Harvard so he had had no idea. She hadn't told him any of this on the roof, probably because she didn't want anyone to know this information. He almost felt a little guilty for listening to his friends gossip.

"Damn, sounds like she had a rough time growing up," Izzie offered sympathetically.

"Oh boohoo. So, she has mommy and daddy issues. Look around, we all have mommy and daddy issues," Christina said.

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but it actually makes me hate her a little less," Meredith offered. "I mean I still hate Addison on the principle of her marrying Derek first. But Little Red? I, of all people, know how shitty it is to have a parent who chronically cheated on the other parent and how it affected me growing up. Maybe she doesn't sprout rainbows and daisies after all. I can relate to the whole having shitty parents thing," Meredith offered.

"Are you saying she's dark and twisty like us?" Christina countered.

"No, we're the only ones allowed to be the dark and twisty sisters around here." Meredith said.

"Damn, McDreamy might not have any kids from his marriage to the she-devil, but it sounds like he adopted Little Red as a little sister. You might have to deal with more than one annoying little sister. He might even try to fight Addison for custody of Little Red," Christina snickered.

"Speaking of sisters, are we going to address the fact that your hot little sister showed up today?" Alex asked. Izzie rolled her eyes at him. Word had spread like wildfire about Addison Montgomery's little sister showing up as a surgical intern at Seattle Grace Hospital and the spat between McDreamy and McSteamy it had ensued. However, news about another surgical intern with the last name "Grey" had also spread like wildfire and everyone at the hospital now knew that Meredith Grey had a younger half-sister at the hospital.

"She's _not _my sister, Alex! And get this, apparently, Derek already knows her. I mean, he had no idea that we have the unfortunate luck of sharing the same father. He told me that he's known her for a while since she and Little Red are so close. They used to go to Derek's house in the Hamptons during the summer when they were at Harvard."

"McDreamy has a house in the Hamptons?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, I think it was a gift from Addison's parents for their wedding or something. Anyways, she kept it after the divorce. That's not important right now," Meredith replied.

"Damn, these rich people…." Alex grumbled.

"Yikes, sounds like Little Grey might be on Team Montgomery then? How do you feel about your little sister being close with the she-devil—your boyfriend's ex-wife?" Christina asked. Jackson noticed April and Lexie walking into the cafeteria together and heading to one the lines to purchase their food. His eyes followed April as she and Lexie chatted.

"How many times do I have to say this? She's not my sister!" Meredith snapped. "Don't think I didn't over hear your guys' conversation from this morning," Meredith addressed both Jackson and Alex before continuing on. Jackson's attention snapped back to the conversation at hand. "You're not allowed to hook up with either of them. Just because, I don't hate Little Red as much as I thought I would, it doesn't mean you're allowed to fraternize with the enemy. You guys live with me, so I better not catch you sneaking them into my house at night!" Meredith pointed her finger at them accusingly.

"Not saying that I plan on sleeping with either of them, but is this a rule that you're going to enforce?" Jackson asked.

"Yes! I'm serious, Jackson! I better not catch either of you with them in the middle of the night," Meredith said as she pointed at Alex too.

"Not to mention, it would be inappropriate for you to be hooking up with interns," Izzie offered.

"Hey, the heart wants what the heart wants," Alex offered. Jackson chuckled at his friend's antics.

"Okay, you're definitely not thinking with your heart on this one, Evil Spawn," Christina snickered. "Don't think I don't notice your pretty eyes following her around, Avery."

Jackson blanched at having been caught. "I don't know what you're talking about, Yang. She's just my intern," he defended himself.

"Oh look! It's Little Grey and Little Red!" Alex pointed out to the group. The whole table turned around and looked at the intern duo, who seemed to be having a dilemma on where to sit.

For lunch, April and Lexie had met up and now stood in line and picked out some salads. "Apes, she's terrible! Just absolutely _terrible_! She refuses to learn our names! I've been demeaned to simply being called by a number."

April grinned. "I don't mean to gloat, but I already got to make my first cut on a patient and I got to scrub in to a surgery."

Lexie groaned in response. "Ugh, of course you did. You know I'm pretty sure my resident has it out to get me especially. I'm pretty sure Yang is best friends with Meredith."

"Hmm, speaking of her, how did it go with your sister?"

Lexie groaned again. "It didn't go well, at all. You know, I ran into Derek at the nurses' station. We were chatting for a minute. By the way, he's desperate to get a chance to talk to you, to explain what happened. Anyways, I was talking to him for a minute and, all of a sudden, Meredith appeared at his side, telling him that she needed to talk to him. I'm pretty sure she just wanted to get him away from me. Anyways, I just took my chance, and introduced myself to her and told her that we were sisters. You want to know what she replied?"

"What?"

"She just looked at me, with a straight face, and told me that she didn't have any sisters and that she didn't know me. Then, she just pulled Derek away. By the way, I'm sorry. It must be weird for you to have to listen to me talk about my sister and Derek together. I mean, it's even weird for me."

April hummed in understanding. "It's okay, Lex. I'm not holding it against you. I'm going to have to come to terms with it sooner or later."

As they paid for the salads and faced the cafeteria, they noticed that several people had turned their heads and were staring at them and whispering to each other. April gulped. She didn't know how to deal with all of this attention on her. She noticed a table with some of her fellow interns sitting at it. She noticed another table where Jackson and his friends were sitting and eating. Then, she noticed Addison sitting at a table with another doctor that she had recognized as Dr. Torres from her surgery this morning. Everyone staring at her was making her nervous. Somehow, it felt like it was her first day of high school all over again. Where was she supposed to sit? It all seemed so cliquey. The only thing that gave her comfort in this awkward situation was that she wasn't completely alone. At least, she had Lexie with her. So, no matter what, she likely wouldn't have to sit at a table all by herself like she had to on her first day of freshman year of high school.

"Apple, Lexie! Over here! Sit with us!" Addison called over, garnering the attention of Jackson and his friends and several others in the cafeteria.

April froze and flushed with all of the attention on her. "On second thought, I'm not ready to come to terms with all of this just yet," April softly muttered to Lexie.

"It's okay, Apes! Earlier, I discovered a quiet place we could go to. We don't have to eat lunch in the cafeteria," Lexie said to April. She noticed Meredith staring her down across the cafeteria. Lexie wanted to escape the cafeteria too.

"Okay, lead the way, Lex." The two friends escaped before anybody else could call out to them.

"You know, I pity them a little bit. I mean, we all know what it's like to have the whole hospital talking about you. It's not fun, especially for your first day as an intern," Izzie said with sympathy to her table.

"You know I might just hate Little Red a little less," Meredith chuckled upon seeing the younger Montgomery sister avoiding the older one. "But, I still hate that Lexie girl all the same," she countered.

Jackson sighed. It was going to be a long day at the hospital.

Lexie led April to the tunnels of the basement of the hospital. "I got lost earlier today while running labs for a patient, and I discovered this place. It's quiet and I haven't seen anyone around here today, so I figured it would be a nice, private spot to eat lunch today."

"Thanks, Lex. This is exactly what I needed," April said. They sat up on the abandoned stretcher in the hallway. They opened their salad boxes and opened the dressing packets and mixed around their salads. It was quiet for a couple minutes as both girls focused on eating.

"So, I picked up on some gossip around the hospital," Lexie offered.

April groaned in response. "I bet the whole damn hospital is talking about what happened this morning."

"Oh, they are! By the way, I heard Derek and Dr. Sloan got into trouble with the Chief. Apparently, this isn't the first time Derek has punched Dr. Sloan either. Oh, wait. I heard some interns and residents referring to them as McDreamy and McSteamy. Isn't that crazy? Well, Sloan does have a certain 'je ne sais quoi' to him, but…"

"Lex, you're rambling and getting off topic. You're supposed to be distracting me, remember?"

"Oh, right! Dr. Stevens, she's the blonde one, she cut an LVAD wire of a patient last year to move him up on the heart donor list."

"What?! Seriously?!"

"Apparently, she fell in love with the patient! It's pretty sad, though. He ended up passing away."

"That's so sad, but I can't believe she ended up keeping her job after that. Did she not get in trouble at all?"

"Oh, she did! But all of the other interns in her group tried to stick up for her."

"That's still crazy. Did you hear anything else?"

"Well, apparently, Yang was dating an attending last year. He was the Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery. I think his name's Dr. Burke. Well, anyways, last month, they were supposed to get married! But get this: he left her at the alter! He just walked out when she was about to walk down the aisle! And then, he just resigned from here! He completely vanished. According to my sources, my long lost sister, Meredith, was her maid of honor."

"Damn! She got involved with the head of a department as an intern? Isn't it frowned upon for superiors to get into relationships with juniors, especially interns?"

"I know, exactly! Apparently, she and Meredith got a lot of shit about it at the beginning. Ooops, sorry I probably shouldn't be talking about Derek and Meredith."

"No, it's okay. Go on. What did you hear about her and Derek? I'm not ready to talk to Addy or Derek yet, and it's better to get a gist of the situation now since I still don't know any details."

"Well, apparently, when Derek got involved with Meredith, she didn't even know that he was married to your sister. Like, she had no idea and no one else at the hospital knew either. Then a couple months after he came here, your sister came here too and all hell broke loose. I heard that he broke up with Meredith for a bit and tried to make things work with Addison, but they ended up divorcing a few months later. Something about a hook up at a _prom_? I don't know. I may have heard that part wrong. Anyways, he and Meredith have kind of been on and off since then. Apparently, they haven't been together since all of the commotion at Yang's wedding."

"Damn, Lex. You got all that information between starting our first shift this morning and lunch? You work fast."

"What can I say? If medical school hadn't worked out, I might have joined the FBI instead." Lexie giggled and April joined her.

"I still can't believe Yang and Meredith both got involved with attendings as interns, and heads of departments at that too!"

"I mean, you'll kind of be in the same boat, once you jump Jackson's bones!" Lexie teased her friend.

"Wait, what?!"

"Come on, Apes. You can't tell me that you haven't thought about it once since you found out that he's your supervising resident!" Lexie teased April.

"I haven't! I have more self control than that," April retorted as her cheeks reddened.

"That blush of yours is telling a different story, Apes. Besides, I'm pretty sure being involved with an attending or any supervisor has lost meaning or stigma around this hospital. Everyone kind of seems whatever about Meredith and Yang sleeping with attendings."

"Whatever, just stop teasing me about Jackson! He's my supervising resident, nothing more. I barely knew him at Harvard. We only talked like three times!"

"Uh huh, sure. You tell yourself that, April." Lexie continued to tease her friend.

"Oh, whatever. Just shut up and eat your salad, Grey." April grumbled, earning another giggle from Lexie.

"Did you hear how an intern gets a solo appy? Who do you think it's going to be?" Lexie asked.

"Yeah, I heard about it. All I know is that it's definitely not going to be me."

"Why not?"

"Lex, I'm related to two of the attendings here. It would be nepotism if I got picked."

"True, but it's kind of unfair really. I mean you might be the most deserving of the first solo surgery, but you'll never know because you simply can't be chosen for it anyways."

"Honestly, I think you're a strong contender for it, Lex," April offered. That was the beauty of their friendship: they were supportive of each other no matter way, through thick and thin. Over eight years of friendship and sisterhood had made their bond strong. They weren't overly competitive with each other and always looked out for the other.

Nearly 40 hours later, April was absolutely exhausted, anxious, and sleep deprived. She was sitting at a nurses' station, diligently working on patients' charts. She had been running labs and closely following a patient that Jackson had assigned to her, but that wasn't what was stressing her out. No, that was a welcome distraction. Despite it causing her to lose precious sleep, work was exactly what she'd rather be doing right now. It kept her distracted. She had been avoiding Addison, Derek and even Mark like the plague since the beginning of her first shift at Seattle Grace Hospital. She had run into them a couple times already. After all, the surgical wing of the hospital wasn't that big. There were only a couple hours left of her shift and the only thing she was looking forward to was going home to sleep on her bed.

Just then, Addison and Derek came towards her with a purpose. They may have ended up divorcing and no longer saw eye to eye on many things. However, if one thing still remained between them, it was their adoration for April, their Apple. She was still their baby sister and they were not going to let the divorce and everything that had happened harm their relationship with her.

April head was hunched down, focusing on her charts. She hadn't noticed Addison and Derek standing in front of her yet. "Apple," Addison called for April's attention, "Derek, Mark and I would like the chance to talk to you. Mark is in surgery right now, but he feels the same as we do. We want to give you an explanation for everything. We're sorry for hiding everything from you for months."

April sighed. This couldn't go on any longer. She was going to have to face this at some point. "Okay, fine. We can talk, but not here. I don't want anyone to over hear us and the hospital has already received enough of a show."

Addison agreed. "Okay, your shift is almost over. Go home, get some rest and sleep. Let's meet tonight for dinner?

"We'll have a nice meal and talk things out. Besides, it's been months since Addison, Mark and I have seen you properly," Derek cut in.

April gave a strained, tight lipped smile. "Sure, I'll see you then."

**Okay, so what did you guys think? There wasn't any Jackson/April in this chapter, but I thought their interactions with their friends was pretty fun. It's important to touch base with all of the characters! The pace of the story is definitely going to pick up after this. These first few chapters were important in laying down the exposition and establishing how this universe is slightly different from the original that we've seen on the show. You'll definitely see a lot of plot development starting from this point! Again, please leave me a review and favorite/follow this story! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, you guys! I'm back with chapter five! It's extra long as a special treat! I loved writing this chapter; it was so much fun! So, we finally get to see that dinner with Addison, Derek and Mark. And a typical night at Joe's—with a twist! Let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy! –Mia **

**Chapter Five: Awkward Meetings **

That night, after April had gotten a chance to sleep, shower and decompress after her first shift as a surgical intern, she entered the restaurant she had agreed to meet Addison, Derek and Mark at. She took a deep breath. She was full of nerves. She didn't know what the changes in Derek and Addison's marital status and Addison and Mark's affair would mean for April. For the past 13 years, they had been a family, a unit. Sure, she was a big girl now. She technically no longer needed Addison, Derek or even Mark to protect her from her parents or the rest of the world. But still, even then, they were her people. She had been taken in, practically adopted as a baby sister by Derek and Mark, when she had met them. They were her boys. She would always still depend on them.

She gave her name at the front of the restaurant and was led to a table that was already occupied by Derek, Mark and Addison. They were awkwardly drinking wine and sitting in silence. She could already sense the slight tension between them, Derek and Addison in particular. She didn't recognize them anymore. This wasn't the Addison and Derek who had promised to spend their lives together and said their vows as 13-year-old April had looked on.

As April approached them, they all stood up from their seats and greeted her with a hug and kiss on her cheek. "April, I'm so glad you agreed to meet with us," Derek said. He called over a waiter who placed a wine glass in front of April and poured her some of the wine Derek had ordered for the table. The waiter handed out menus to the four. "Let's order our food before we discuss….the situation," Mark offered. The others agreed with Mark. The four settled into awkward silence once more as they perused the menu of the Italian restaurant.

A few minutes later, the waiter came back and the four placed their orders. "Right, well it's not like you guys gave me much of a choice, but I figured meeting outside of the hospital would be better," April replied.

"I'm extremely sorry about what happened with Mark at the hospital, April. I didn't mean to lose control like that and embarrass you."

"Derek and I are good now. We just lost our temper and control of the situation a little bit and it escalated into a fight. We didn't mean to embarrass you. I want to apologize to you for that, Little Red," Mark seriously said.

"If it makes you feel better, April, Derek didn't even react that way when he found Mark and I in bed together. The only time I've seen Derek punch Mark like that is when he was hitting on Meredith Grey," Addison added.

Derek cleared his throat in awkwardness and April looked away, clearly uncomfortable with that tidbit of information. Mark awkwardly took a sip of his wine. Well, that was a perfect segue into discussing what had happened between Derek, Mark and Addison.

"I think what Addison is trying to say is that I care deeply about you, April. Regardless of what happened between Addison and I, you will always be my little sister, Apple. I don't want this to affect our relationship," Derek said.

"Explain to me what happened. I just don't understand how this all happened. You guys were happy. How did this all happen?" April was calmly asked. She didn't want to get emotional again.

Addison, Mark and Derek took turns in explaining to April how the marriage had fallen apart, how the affair had happened and the events of the last year. Derek and Addison had been unhappy in their marriage for a while. They were both working long hours and had been rarely seeing each other at home. They weren't communicating and they weren't making time for each other. So, Addison had fallen into an affair with Mark. Derek had come home one night and found his wife and best friend in bed together. Without even confronting them, he packed up his bags and promptly moved to Seattle. He had met Meredith Grey right away and there was an instant, undeniable connection between them. They had started dating regardless of the fact that he was an attending and she was intern. She hadn't known that Derek was still technically married to Addison. A couple months later, Addison showed up in Seattle, hoping to make her marriage work with Derek. After some deliberation, Derek broke up with Meredith and tried to make his marriage to Addison work. After all, they had been together for so long and had built a life together. He couldn't just give up on that easily. Despite that, he couldn't forget about Meredith either. He tried, but he just couldn't move on from her. Mark showed up a couple months later, following both Derek and Addison out west. Things between Addison and Derek weren't working. All of this had culminated with Derek and Meredith sleeping together at the prom that the hospital threw for the Chief's niece. Derek found out that the affair between Addison and Mark had persisted even after he had found them together and escaped to Seattle. After that, Derek and Addison decided to finalize their divorce, both admitting their fault in the failure of their marriage.

April listened on in silence, willing herself to understand what had happened between her sister and Derek in their marriage and what had happened between her sister and Mark in their affair. Their food arrived, giving April a reprieve. It gave her a pause. After taking a few moments to process this, April finally spoke. "Why didn't you tell me about any of this? You kept this from me for over a year! I had no idea that any of this was going on. I guess a part of it was my fault. I was so busy with my final year of medical school and I didn't call you guys enough. I could've been there for you, for all of you."

"I know, I'm sorry for hiding this from you for so long. I think part of the reason why I didn't tell you for so long is because I didn't know how to deal with all of this myself. I didn't know how to even put this into words for you. I felt like a failure and I was scared about what you would think of me. I'm sorry if I disappointed you," Addison answered.

"Why did you call me over here, to Seattle?" April asked.

"Because I was going through a hard time. I felt like I was losing a part of myself, through all of this: my affair with Mark, my failing marriage to Derek, him finding Meredith, and then the divorce. I needed my baby sister here with me. I need my Apple," Addison clarified.

April nodded. "So, what does this mean for me? Derek, what does this mean for us? Mark?"

"I will always still be your older brother, April. I'll still walk you down the aisle when the day comes just like you asked me to when you were 17 years old, if you'll still have me. You mean just as much to me as Nancy, Kate, Lizzie and Amelia do," Derek pleaded with her.

"Little Red," Mark said, using his special nickname for her. "You know that you're like my little sister. I've got no one, except for Addison, Derek and his family, and you. You'll always be like my little baby sister too."

"Good, because you guys will never be able to get rid of me even if you try," April said, smiling softly. This was the first time she smiled during the night, throughout the whole awkward dinner with Derek, Mark and Addison.

"So, are you guys happy now? Derek, does Meredith make you happy?" April asked. Addison looked visibly uncomfortable with April's questioning. Derek took a moment and sipped some wine. He hadn't expected April to directly ask him that, but, then again, April had always been stubborn and direct. He contemplated his answer for another moment before answering April.

"Yes, Meredith makes me…happy. We're trying to work through some things right now. It's a little complicated with her." Addison fought back a smirk at Derek's answer.

"Are you guys still together? I don't mean to pry, but Lexie caught me up with some of the hospital drama. She told me that you guys kind of broke up."

"Like I said, we're still trying to work out some things." That's all Derek offered to April. Addison tried not to gloat at Derek's admission.

"Well, I'd like to meet her sometime eventually, if that's not too weird." April realized how awkward that might be so she rambled on. "I mean I know it might be awkward with me being Addy's little sister. She probably hates me. Never mind, forget I even said anything."

Derek cut in before she could go on. "No, April, you're an important part of my life. You'll meet her just like the rest of my sisters." April nodded at him.

"What about you guys, Addison and Mark? Are you guys together now? Are you guys happy?" April interrogated her sister and Mark this time. Derek scowled into his wine as he took another drink.

Addison took a moment before she answered. "No, Mark and I are not together." Adison cleared her throat before continuing on. "We just want different things in life and I realized that it would never work out." This time, Derek tried to hide his smirk. April accepted her sister's answer.

"Despite the way things turned out, we're all happy now, Little Red. We all hurt each other and we're all to blame for what happened. However, we've learned and healed and forgiven each other. We're sorry for hurting you in the process of everything," Mark said.

The four continued eating their dinner in compatible silence. There was silence, but, this time, it wasn't as tense and awkward as before. April was relieved. She wouldn't be losing three of the most important life in her life after all. The situation was less than ideal, but her little happy dysfunctional happy wasn't completely destroyed and gone forever. It was simply more dysfunctional than before and April could learn to live with that if need be.

Six weeks later, April found herself working on patients' charts. It was a Friday night and there was only a couple more hours until her shift ended. All she wanted to do was go home, take a nice, hot bath, change into her comfy pajamas, drink some wine and binge watch some romantic comedies with Lexie at their apartment.

Her transition into life at Seattle Grace Hospital had been difficult to say the least. During her first week there, she constantly battled whispers and stares from hospital staff. The dramatic scene between Derek and Mark, or McDreamy and McSteamy as the other interns and residents called them, had only added more fire to the gossip surrounding Derek, Addison, Mark, Meredith and, now, April. After a while, however, people moved onto the next new piece of hot gossip to sensationalize. For that, April was thankful. She didn't like the attention on her. If she had it her way, she would turn invisible and silently go through her residency at Seattle Grace Hospital without causing further trouble. Things were finally starting to feel a little normal too. She and Addison were working on their communication with each other. Both sisters agreed that their busy lives had led them to not bothering to communicate and tell each other about things going on in their lives. April and Derek were also repairing their relationship. She was trying to be supportive of whatever he had going on with Meredith.. Despite everything that had happened, April and Mark were still close with each other and she was thankful for that. It seemed as though Derek and Addison had worked everything out with Mark, so April saw no reason for why she should still hold a grudge against him.

Currently, she was sitting at the nurses' station, trying to ignore the fact that Jackson was flirting with a nurse just a few feet away from her. She tried her best to not scowl at her notes. She had no reason to be jealous, she reminded herself. She was friends with Jackson and that's all they were. Besides, he had been so helpful in helping her transition. He was a great supervising resident. She was clearly his favorite intern, but she didn't let that worry her because she knew that he was fair. He took the time to actually teach her and her fellow interns. He gave them opportunities to scrub into surgeries when it was fair.

He was her friend and she was eternally thankful for his friendship. She needed more people she could depend on her in her life. Sure, she had Lexie, Addison, Mark and Derek at the hospital. However, they were all each busy with their own lives and work. That's not to say that they didn't care about April. It's just that they were all surgeons and led incredibly busy lives. Besides, it was good to branch out a little bit, meet some new people or, in her case, reacquaint herself with old acquaintances. Lexie and her had become friends with a couple of the other interns—Reed Adamson and Charles Percy— and they were nice, but she wasn't as close with them as she was with Jackson. Thus, April wouldn't let herself get jealous of Jackson flirting with the nurses, residents, paramedics and just about every other female at the hospital besides her. It wasn't her place to be jealous, she reminded herself.

As April continued her charting, Lexie approached her. "Apes, I'm in deep shit and I need your help."

That threw April off. "What?! What's wrong, Lex? What do you need my help for?" April replied.

"Do you remember that intern, Ian Evans?"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"Well, he just asked me if I wanted to get drinks with him at Joe's after work."

"Okay, and that's a problem because…? I thought you guys were kind of friends."

"Well, that's the problem, April!" Lexie exclaimed before continuing. "I think of us as just friends, but I'm pretty sure that he might be interested in me as more than friends. So, he asked me if I wanted to get drinks after work and I panicked! He was so nervous when he asked and I didin't have the heart to just out right reject him so I agreed. Now, I'm freaking out! I feel so bad. Why didn't I just tell him that I'm not interested in him like that? Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy…kind of like a puppy. That's the problem! He's like a puppy to me and I'm not the least bit attracted to him." It wasn't often that Lexie had nervous ramblings. That was more April's thing.

"Okay, calm down, Lex. You need to tell him later that you only think of him as your friend. What do you need me to do? Where do I fit into all of this?"

"I need you to come to drinks with us at Joe's later!"

"What? Why? I don't want to gate crash your date, Lex."

"Don't call it a date, Apes! It's not a date. That's what I'm trying to prevent it from turning into. If you come too, he'll think that it's more like a bunch of friends getting drinks together after a long shift at work."

"I don't know, Lex. It's been a long and stressful week. I kind of just wanted to go home and pamper myself. I'm in need of some self care."

"Please, Apes! I'll be forever in your debt!"

Before April could reply to Lexie, they were interrupted by another intern—Andrew Freeman, who was also an intern under Jackson's supervision just like April. She didn't particularly like the man. He was far too arrogant for her taste. He tried to act friendly with her, but April tried her best to avoid him.

"April! Just the girl I was looking for! Drinks later at Joe's tonight?" He asked.

"Oh, I.." April was about to decline but, he interrupted her before she could even get two words out.

"Perfect, I'll see you there. Looking forward to it, babe." He said with a wink while walking away.

April's jaw was hinged open in shock. "Um…Seriously?!" She was at a loss for words.

"What the hell just happened?" Lexie asked in outrage.

"Did that just happen?" April asked in equal shock.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"What an arrogant ass!"

"He didn't even give you a chance to answer! And he had the audacity to just call you 'babe'! You know, if you just don't show up, it's going to be really awkward. If it were any other guy, I would tell you to give him a tight slap across the face, but we all work together! I mean you guys work closely together! This is just beyond awkward! Who does that guy think he is?!"

"Ugh, I know! What do I do now?"

"Well, now you have no choice but to join me at Joe's later! At least we can be awkward and uncomfortable through this together! Come on, April, it'll be just like old times!"

"Okay, fine…it's not like I was given a choice in any of this," April glumly replied.

"Okay, I'll meet you in the locker room after our shift ends. We'll head out together." April agreed and Lexie walked away. This time, April didn't fight the scowl on her face.

Unbeknownst to her, Jackson had overhead the entire exchange between April, Lexie and Andrew. He was annoyed with the idiotic intern. He had always thought that Andrew Freeman was far too arrogant and full of himself for his own good. He was a mediocre surgical intern, at best. He definitely wasn't going to let that idiot see the inside of an O.R. for at least two weeks.

Later that night, Jackson found himself nursing a drink with Alex as his company. "Man, I'm so freakin' stressed! Bailey may not be our resident anymore, but she's been on my ass the whole week. It doesn't help that my interns are all a bunch of complete idiots! I'm honestly jealous of you and Yang. You guys got lucky and got the only competent interns."

Jackson smirked into his drink. "Hey, they can't help it. Surgery is in their blood."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, and you're an Avery. I get it you guys are all legacies and were born for surgery, unlike us peasants."

"Hey man, you said it, not me." Jackson chuckled.

"It also helps that they're hot," Alex bluntly said.

"I can't say that I disagree with you."

"Anything going on between you and Little Red?"

"No….we're just friends. Why are _you _interested in her?" Jackson looked Alex suspiciously.

"Relax, dude. You know I have my eyes set on Little Grey, but don't tell Mer that."

"Yeah, and how's that working out for you?"

"I'm working on it! Trust me, it'll happen sooner or later."

"Uh huh, sure, dude."

"What's going on over there anyways? What the hell are those two idiots doing with the Rainbow sisters?" Alex nodded his head in the direction of the booth where Lexie and April were uncomfortably sitting with their sort of dates.

Jackson had been keeping his eye on that table since the moment he had arrived to Joe's. April and Lexie sat in silence, visibly looking uncomfortable and awkward as they drank their drinks. Andrew was talking but it looked like he was talking to himself with how little April was engaging in conversation with him. Jackson was a little satisfied with how little attention April gave him. He was probably talking about himself, Jackson mused. Lexie looked no better. It appeared that Ian Evans was trying, but failing to peek her interest. "Rainbow sisters?" Jackson raised his eyebrows at Alex because of the nickname he had used for April and Lexie.

"Well, they're Little Grey and Little Red, so it makes sense, you know? They're perky and they're best friends. Yang thinks they're about to combust into rainbows and glitter at any given point, so it's fitting."

"Yeah, that sort of makes sense. Besides, Christina and Meredith have already taken the tittle of being the dark and twisty sisters. Lexie and April are their less bitchy, nicer, less-tequila-drinking counterparts," Jackson snickered.

Alex chuckled in response. He eyed Lexie. Earlier that day, he had discovered her charting in a closet. He had taken pity on her and let her help with a patient—one of the bridezillas who had dislocated her shoulder while holding on to the wedding dress. In the end, it had been Lexie's intervention that had gotten the patient to actually agree to surgery. Alex had to admit that it made him more intrigued in her. "Anyways, what's going on there? They look absolutely fucking miserable with those schmucks. Do those idiots have even one brain cell between the two of them? It's obvious that those two chicks don't dig them."

"Yeah, it's a long story, but they basically weaseled their way into the girls agreeing to get drinks with them. Those two idiots didn't really offer them any choice in the matter. I honestly feel a little sorry for them. What kind of a respectable guy pulls that shit with a girl. Just get a hint, and move on!"

Alex agreed with Jackson. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Jackson eyed Alex suspiciously. "I don't know. What _are _you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that we should disrupt this little sad excuse of a date or whatever and save those chicks from their misery."

"Hmmm, you might be onto something, Karev. Freeman's my intern and Evans is your intern. I'm sure we could exert our power as residents and make them disappear," Jackson offered.

"I like the way you're thinking, Avery." Jackson smirked at Alex. The men downed their drinks and ordered new drinks to be served at the table as they headed over to the booth currently being occupied by April, Lexie and their unwanted dates. Jackson and Alex approached the table and April and Lexie watched the second-year residents with interest, wondering what they were there for.

"Evans!" Alex's voice boomed. "Did you check Mrs. Johnson's labs before leaving the hospital?"

"I…" Ian started stuttering.

"Go back to the hospital! She better not be dead because of you or I won't let you see the inside of an O.R. for the next two months." Alex yelled back. Ian apologized to Lexie before scurrying away. Alex slid into the booth, next to Lexie.

"Freeman, Mr. Cho needs to be watched overnight. He's too critical," Jackson addressed Andrew.

"But, I haven't gotten a night off in forever!" Andrew argued back.

"Are you arguing with me? Or are you suggesting that I do your work for you, Freeman?" Jackson countered. April was amused. She was no idiot. She could clearly see what Jackson was doing.

Andrew groaned in response. "Okay, I'll head back to the hospital, Dr. Avery." Andrew offered before turning back to April. "I'll catch you later, Little Red." He gave her a wink. April rolled her eyes at his use of that nickname. Only people she actually liked were allowed to call her that. Andrew left the table and Jackson took his spot.

April grinned at Jackson. "I see what you did there, Avery. Very smooth."

Jackson chuckled. "And what exactly did I do?"

"You're trying to be my prince charming, saving me from the big, bad dragon who had me trapped in his tower," April teased him. The drinks that Alex and Jackson had ordered earlier arrived at their table and the girls graciously accepted their drinks.

"Well, I'm definitely no prince, but you looked like you were having a terrible time with Freeman so I decided to do you a favor and put you out of your misery."

"Well, it's much appreciated. I prefer your company over Andrew's anyways."

"Oh, good. This would've been so awkward if you had been actually enjoying spending time with that idiot," Jackson said. April giggled in response and they settled into a conversation.

Jackson and April settled into an easy conversation while Lexie and Alex flirted amongst themselves across the table. Twenty minutes later, Lexie called out to April. "Apes, Alex and I are going to head out. Um, maybe Jackson could give you a ride home?"

"Um, sure…Lex," April looked at Lex and Alex curiously. It took her all of five seconds to catch on. "Oh wait, you mean….oooh, okay. Alright, I'll see you at home, Lex." April awkwardly waved at the duo before they left.

Jackson chuckled at her adorable awkwardness. "Wow, I totally did not see that happening," April offered.

"Yeah, and they definitely are shacking up at your place."

"Why didn't they just go to your guys' place. I thought you guys lived together."

"Oh, um, Meredith made some weird rule about Alex and I bringing you or Lexie back to the frat house. Actually, she warned Alex to not make a move on Lexie, but that clearly didn't work."

"Wait, you live with Meredith Grey?" April really hadn't met her as Derek's sort of girlfriend yet. Meredith avoided her or ignored April's existence if they were ever in each other's presence. April felt awkward and uncomfortable around the resident. She was only trying to be nice. She didn't want to be best friends with her, but it wouldn't be bad if they were at least on good terms, considering that they worked at the same hospital and Meredith had something going on with Derek.

"Umm, yeah. She owns this big house that she grew up in. Alex, Izzie and I live with her. It's kind of our frat house."

"Is there some weird initiation or pledge for being allowed to come inside her frat house? Why has she decided that Lex and I specifically aren't allowed to come inside?" April narrowed her eyes at Jackson.

He sighed in response. "Meredith…is a complicated person and she can be incredibly moody. Don't worry. She'll come around eventually. She's being unfair to you and Lexie."

"I told Derek that I'd like to properly meet her as his girlfriend. Well, sort of girlfriend. He told me that things are still a bit complicated between them. Anyways, Derek is my older brother and as much as I hate having to accept it, Addy is no longer in his life. Meredith is. But, he told me that she has been kind of blowing him off every time he's mentioned getting dinner with me or something."

"Meredith Grey is an enigma. Don't worry. She just needs some time to get over herself."

"Wait, earlier you said that she prohibited you and Alex from ever brining me or Lexie to the frat house? Why you guys specifically?"

Jackson cleared his throat. He was hoping that she wouldn't catch on to what he had accidentally let slip, but she was too clever for her own good. "Yeah, um… Karev has had his eye on Lexie since the day you guys arrived here."

April nodded. "And what about me? Why did she specifically ban you from ever brining me over to the house too?"

"She overheard Alex and I talking and made an assumption," Jackson awkwardly replied. He was attracted to her. God, he couldn't deny that she was absolutely beautiful. He was absolutely entranced by her luscious auburn waves and the way it contrasted with her pale skin. And those tight jeans she was wearing right now? Jackson had subtly checked her out when he had first noticed her walking into Joe's. She was beautiful and hot. Despite that, he knew that she was off limits. Not because of Meredith's rules, though. He was an adult and he most definitely wasn't going to follow Meredith's dumb rules. April was special. She was a good person. Not to mention, she was a fragile person. Jackson had quickly figured that out after meeting her. He couldn't just turn her into a hot one night stand. It would ruin their friendship which was still new and developing. Their friendship meant too much to him to ruin it with his primal urges. April was worth more than that to him. She was too good of a person and she seemed too innocent.

"Huh, makes sense. Lexie always got all the attention from all the guys," April quietly muttered to herself. Jackson noted the tone in her voice. There wasn't any jealousy or bad blood between her and her brunette friend. She had said it more in a light-toned, factual and self-deprecating manner, as if she wasn't worthy of any attention from the opposite sex and had accepted it as a fact. Before Jackson could reply to her comment and backtrack, she continued on in a brighter tone and changed the subject quickly. "Well knowing Lexie, I should probably avoid the apartment for the next couple of hours. How about a game of pool to keep ourselves occupied?" April asked.

"Sounds good, but I gotta warn you. I'm somewhat of a master at pool and I'm not going to go easy on you." They slid out of the booth and started making their way over to the pool tables.

"Oh, we'll see about that, Avery. I'm totally going to beat you." April playfully stuck out her tongue at them.

Forty-five minutes later, April was sorely losing. Damn, Jackson hadn't been bluffing when he said that he was a master at pool. As Jackson took another shot, April groaned in defeat and Jackson chuckled at her reaction. "Technically, it is my job to teach you. Granted this isn't exactly medicine, but I can still give you a few pointers. You know, it doesn't hurt to pick up some pointers from an expert."

"Oh, shup up, Jackson. Gloating doesn't suit you. Just show me what you've got."

"Gladly, Little Red," Jackson smirked at her. "Come over here. Your problem is your posture. You're way too tense. You've gotta relax a little bit."

"Hey! It's hard to relax when I've got you as a resident. You pile on the work like no other."

Jackson pouted at April. The alcohol was clearly starting to get to him. She couldn't deny that he looked absolutely adorable doing his little pout. "You take that back! You know I'm completely fair. I pride myself in being the best supervising resident. You should be grateful I'm your resident!" Jackson playfully whined to her.

April took a step closer to Jackson. Clearly, the alcohol was starting to get to her too. "No, you're right. I'm just teasing you. Honestly, without you, I don't know how I would've navigated working at the hospital with all of Addison, Mark and Derek's drama. Seriously, thank you, Jackson," April lowly said to Jackson. Jackson was mesmerized by the look she gave him. She smiled at him softly and she was so sincere. Life as an Avery had always been a little complicated. Growing up, he had always been surrounded by those who wanted to take advantage of his family's name and power. He had never come across anyone who didn't make a big deal out of his family's name. April was so down to earth and he liked that about her. It was just so easy being around her. She was such a warm person that she could instantly make him feel relaxed.

"Hey, don't worry about it, April. I've got you," Jackson replied.

April gave him a bright smile. "Okay, now show me your moves, Avery."

"Your problem is that your shoulders are too tense," Jackson said as he stepped behind her. He lightly placed his hands on her shoulders and spoke lowly. "As surgeons, we have to spend a lot of time hunched over. Over our patients, over our charts, in the O.R. You can't carry that stress when you leave the hospital, April." He slid his hands down her arms slowly, motioning her to position the billiard correctly. Jackson noted how soft her skin was as his fingers lightly touched her arms. As April slowly bent over the table, Jackson morphed his body to mirror hers. She fit under him perfectly and she was completely caged by his body. They were standing so close that they could feel the other's body heat. Jackson slowly directed her to make the shot, perfectly hitting it in.

April looked back at him and smiled at him. "I did it, Jackson."

Jackson smiled widely at her in response. Their faces were now so close to each other. They could smell the alcohol on each other's breath. Jackson noted the way April's cheeks were flushed. He wasn't sure if it was because of the alcohol or if it was just the effect he had on her. In his drunken haze, Jackson no longer cared about his inhibitions. What was holding him back? April was beautiful and she made him feel good. He leaned into her, their breaths mingling. Just as he was about to finally close the distance between them, they were interrupted by someone calling out his name.

Jackson immediately pulled away from April and she stepped out from under his arms. She was so flustered and she needed to put some distance between Jackson and her. She had no idea what that moment had been and she didn't allow herself to even process it. They both had been drinking and they allowed themselves to carried away. They simply had drank too much. Yeah, that was it.

"Oh, Jackson! There you are! Meredith told me you'd be here!" Izzie's voice called out and she joined him.

The moment had been ruined. Izzie ended up playing pool with April and Jackson. April didn't entirely mind, though. She liked the blonde resident. She was easy going and fun to talk to. She was also partially thankful for the interruption that Izzie's arrival had brought. There had been a charged moment between Jackson and her. At least, that's what April had felt. She was pretty sure that it was all in her heard. She and Jackson were just friends, she reminded herself. He had reaffirmed that when he had told her that Meredith had made an incorrect assumption about them.

At the end of the night, both Jackson and Izzie dropped April off at her apartment. Jackson and Izzie had carpooled to work together. In the end, April was thankful for Izzie's presence. It had diffused that moment between Jackson and her. She was afraid that, if Izzie hadn't shown up that point, she might've misinterpreted the moment and done something stupid that would've made things between Jackson and her awkward. She was just going to forget that it had ever happened.

**Alright, so what do you think? How did you guys like that? Please leave me a review to let me know! Also, things from next chapter are going to get extra spicy and I can't wait for you guys to read it! Who knows? I may post it earlier than I'm planning to depending on the response this chapter gets! Also, I finally outline the whole story and it's going to be around 30 chapters long! Plus, I've already written the first 10 chapters! Buckle in, it's gonna be a long ride. Enjoy! –Mia **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey, you guys! I'm back! I'm blown away with the responses that I've been getting for this story! Thank you so much! As promised, I came back with a ~spicy~ chapter! So, since we're pretty much settled into this particular universe and I'm done setting up the background stuff, we're going to progress further into the plot of the story. In addition, something that I wanted to incorporate was plot points from the actual show. This follows the group's second year as residents and Lexie's intern year after all. So, many chapters, including this one with include events from season 4 and eventually season 5 when we get there. I hope you guys like it! **

**Chapter Six: Father, Have Mercy on My Soul **

Two weeks later, April and Lexie stood in line together for their patients' lab results as they chatted together. "Apes, you have no idea how mortifying it was! There I am, in just a bed sheet, giggling with Alex over something completely stupid, and Meredith just comes out and gives me a look and slams her door." April chuckled at her friend's antics as she recalled the story of how Meredith had found out about Alex and her sleeping together a few days ago. "I had no idea that they lived together! I thought we were finally kind of getting somewhere with each other. I gave her that piece of advice about her mom's ashes so I felt she was finally starting to hate me a little less. She's been avoiding me ever since she caught Alex and me together and I don't know what to do."

"I guess he ignored Meredith's rule," April muttered.

"What rule?" Lexie asked.

"Yeah, it's a long story. Anyways, sorry, Lex. I don't really know how to help you with anything related to Meredith Grey. She's treats me exactly how she treats you. You know, it's been two months since we've arrived and I've yet to meet her as Derek's girlfriend. Well, he told me that it's because they're technically not officially together anymore, but they're still seeing each other. I don't know, I find the whole thing incredibly confusing."

"Exactly! I just don't know how to approach her because she's so cold! Anyways, so a couple days ago, I paged Alex. I had a question about whether I could pick up this baby and I asked him if he could please tell Meredith that I had no idea that his house was also her house. She and I were making progress and now she probably thinks I'm a stalker!"

"And what did he say to that?" April asked. April and Lexie inched closer to the counter to pick up their patients' labs.

"He said that my issues can't be his! However, he did say that he's here for sex if I need it. He thought I wanted to invite him to an on-call room," Lexie said as she rolled her eyes.

April smirked at her friend. "Is that all it is, then? Are you guys just sleeping together?"

"It's…complicated? We've slept together a few times, but we're not going to focus on that just yet. Let's focus on Meredith first, and then I'll tell you about Alex. So, then a few hours later, I ran into her and I tried to explain myself to her. Then, a patient's husband asked if we were sisters. She didn't answer, so I just told him that it's a coincidence that we have the same last name and then ran out of the room."

"Then what happened?"

"That night, I went over to Alex's house—Meredith's house, whatever, you know what I mean—and I asked him to get a drink with me. You were working that night and I really needed a drink after that day." April nodded in understanding and let Lexie continue on. "I ran into Meredith there.

"Oh, no. What happened?"

"She said that she made a rule that I'm not allowed to drink with Alex and that I'm not allowed to sleep with him."

"Oh, so you did hear about her ridiculous rules then."

"Yeah, elaborate on these rules. It sounds like you already heard about them." The lab technician at the counter handed the results of the labs back to April and Lexie. They started making their way back to their patients.

"Jackson told me that she made some ridiculous rule that Alex and Jackson aren't allowed to sleep with us and aren't allowed to ever bring us over to their frat house." April rolled her eyes in frustration.

"Wow, that is ridiculous. Interesting how she'd include Jackson and you in that rule, Apes. Is there something going on that I should be aware about? Something going on between Jackson and you?"

"No, we're just friends. Anyways, we're not focusing on me right now." April dismissed it right away.

"Oh, right. Well, the next day, I told her five things about me to make her hate me a little less."

April's brows scrunched up in confusion. "Five things? I'm confused."

"I know, it's stupid! I feel pathetic about it, but it's the only thing I could think of."

"Well, you've made more progress with her than I have. She avoids me like the plague because of Addison. I don't want to be besties with her, but I feel that, if she's going to be with Derek, I should at least get to know her. Yeah, I'm Addison's little sister, but I'm also Derek's little sister."

"She just…needs to get over herself. I'm this close to just giving up on being her sister. Back to Alex now: I later asked him if he wanted to go to an on-call room and he told me that he's not going to get involved in this issue between Meredith and me." Lexie rolled her eyes before continuing on. "He's choosing her over me and abiding by Meredith's dumb rule."

"I'm sorry, Lex. That's tough."

"Whatever, we just slept together a few times. It's not a big deal. Then, I got drunk alone at Joe's—you had an overnight shift at the hospital and I just really needed a drink after having a shitty couple of days. Alex ended up taking me home, but to my dad's place. I was stupid and I insisted on going to my dad's place because I've been meaning to check up on him for the last couple of days."

"Oh, no. Then what happened?"

"He saw my dad, who was about to head out to buy alcohol. He realized really quickly that my dad has developed a drinking problem." Lexie sighed. "I asked him to not tell Meredith about it. Whatever, he helped out once and now it's over."

"I'm sorry, Lex. Speaking from experience, I know it's hard to have a parent who drinks too much."

Lexie's pager buzzed and she checked it. "Oh, speaking of the devil, look who just paged me. Alex! I wonder he wants from me. I hope it has nothing to do about my dad."

"Just ignore him. He's not worth your time, Lex."

"I have to go see my patient. How about lunch later?" Lexie asked.

"Sounds good." April replied.

April had just left her patient's room after checking on her. She noticed Jackson across, he was talking to one of their patients. The older lady was clearly enamored by Jackson and his eyes. April smiled to herself. Honestly, who wasn't enamored by Jackson and his charms? Jackson truly had a way around people. She was about to walk over and greet the patient, but her ringing phone interrupted her. She checked her phone and frowned. It was a number that she didn't recognize, but its area code belonged to New York, her home state. She had no idea who could be calling her. She wondered if it could be someone she knew—maybe an old friend. She walked over to a quiet hallway before answering.

"Hello?" April waited for a couple seconds for an answer, but there was no answer. "Hello?" April repeated again, slightly annoyed this time.

"April, it's me, your father," the caller replied. April froze. It had been years since she had last heard his voice, but she recognized his voice instantaneously. Her heart hammered in her chest. She didn't know what to say. She didn't want to say anything. She had nothing to say to him. Her pager buzzed, giving her a reprieve. She saw that she was being paged to the pit, likely for a huge accident that was coming to the hospital. It was just the excuse she needed to hang up the call. She didn't say anything to her father and simply ended the call. He didn't deserve an explanation from her.

It turned out that virtually every resident and intern had been paged to the pit because of a huge bus crash involving high school students. April put the yellow trauma gown on hastily and met up with Jackson. Jackson instantly noticed the forlorn look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. Um, it's a huge accident and they're all just kids. I'm just worried for the patients," April offered, hoping that Jackson would buy her small lie.

"Sure…" Before Jackson could go on further, an ambulance arrived and they received their patient.

"Danny Gervais, age 17, pencil wedged into left eye. Responsive and conscious and B.P. is stable so far," the paramedic called out.

"Page Neuro!" Jackson called out to the one of the nurses as they transported the patient into trauma room three. A timid brunette with a few scratches on her face walked in after them. She introduced herself as Marissa; she was Danny's best friend.

In the trauma room, Jackson and April began assessing the patient. Derek walked in a couple minutes later. "What do we have here?" He asked.

"Danny, age 17. There's a pencil lodged into his left eye. Possibly piercing brain matter. That paper cup taped onto his face is coving it." Jackson explained.

Derek nodded and walked over to the patient. "Hey, uh, Danny, I'm gonna take this off, so I can have a look, okay?"

Upon seeing the actual extent of the damage the pencil had done, April and Jackson gave each other worried looks. Danny began explaining the events of the accident, working himself up. Derek calmed him down. He was only raising his blood pressure by getting worked up over how a couple of dumb kids had caused the accident.

"We need to get a visual of this before we take him to an O.R. Get an M.R.I and call me when you get an image," Derek explained to Jackson and April.

April and Jackson waited for the M.R.I image to get started. April was awfully quiet. "What are you thinking about?" Jackson asked.

"High school. This whole day is making me think of high school," April replied. It wasn't only the influx of the high school aged patients, though. April's mind was still on that unexpected phone call from her father.

"What were you like in high school? I was quarter back of my high school's football team and prom king," Jackson proudly said.

April rolled her eyes and playfully smacked Jackson's arm. "Of course, you were. Why am I not surprised?"

"What were you like in high school?" Jackson asked.

"Honestly, probably would've fit in with those kids back in high school," April referred to their patient and his friend. "I was—still am—super nerdy and dorky. I was quiet and shy. I mostly kept to myself. I only had a couple close friends." April chose to not elaborate further.

"Really? But, you're best friends with Lexie. And you guys are the opposite of quiet and shy."

"Yeah, that's me now, obviously." April snapped. Jackson could tell that something was bothering her and didn't ask her further. He would talk to her about it later.

"Hey," Derek's arrival interrupted their conversation. "Well, let's see what we've got here. Oh, you see that, Dr. Avery?" Derek said as he pointed at the M.R.I. image.

"Yeah, it looks like the pencil lifted up one of the branches of the A.C.A." Jackson answered.

"Is that a bleed?" April pointed out.

"Mm-hmm. It is. It's a little one. We need to get that pencil out of there before it gets any bigger. I'll book an O.R."

As April and Jackson transferred Danny over to the O.R., his brunette friend trailed after them. Danny was talking to his mom using his friend's phone. His conversation with his mother sent a pang straight to her April's heart. It reminded her of the unexpected phone call she had gotten from her father. It reminded her of her own mother. She shook herself out of it. She couldn't get distracted by trivial things.

In the O.R., April observed Derek and Jackson as they tried to save Danny's life. When Derek removed the pencil, the artery burst immediately. There was too much swelling, rendering Danny into a coma. He was never going to wake up again. She tried to not let herself get emotionally attached to patients, but she had been rooting for him.

A couple hours later, April and Jackson were working in Danny's room, monitoring him until his parents came. They had let Marissa, his friend, into his room. A couple girls from the high school hovered around the door, making comments about how they had walked past his house once or how they thought they might've been in algebra class together once.

Marissa was devastated and April's heart broke for her. She slowly approached the younger girl. Jackson curiously watched April, wondering what she was trying to do. "Marissa, I know that this seems impossible now, but you will get through this. Danny would've wanted you to."

"You don't know what he would've wanted. You're just like them. You're a prom queen, and you're trying to act like you know what it's like for me. You have no idea what it's like," Marissa retorted.

April shook her head. "I wasn't a prom queen. When I was 15, I left home and came to live with my sister and her husband. I left home, but I had long been abandoned by my parents before that. I was—still am, in a lot of ways—damaged because of them. High school was tough for me. I was hurt and I didn't really have a lot of friends. But you know what? High school is such a small part of your life in the grand scheme of things. I got through it and I know you will too. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but everything is going to be okay. Danny would've wanted you to know that," April said. Jackson looked at April with wide eyes. He had had no idea about what had happened to her when she was in high school.

Marissa nodded in understanding. The girls from the hallway continued their useless comments. April couldn't take it anymore. Jackson was looking at her with his blue-green eyes and she couldn't take it anymore. Despite knowing better, she felt like he was pitying her.

"Um, I need to check on a patient. I'll be back later," she said and she promptly left without letting Jackson even reply.

An hour later, Jackson was looking for April all over the hospital. He had paged her, but she hadn't answered. After looking around in the cafeteria, he remembered that she could've gone up to the hospital rooftop. Why hadn't he thought to look there first? He nearly smacked himself in the forehead with how stupid he felt.

He took an elevator to the hospital's top floor and rushed to the staircase that would lead him to the rooftop. When he opened the door to the rooftop, he realized that the he had been right all along. April sat on the block with her arms behind her, leaning her weight back. Her back faced him. It was a late summer evening and the sun was just starting to set. It made her red hair glow, looking like the sun's fiery corona.

Jackson slowly approached her. He quietly sat next to her and didn't say anything. She would talk to him when she was ready. A few minutes later, April looked at him and broke the silence. "I'm sorry for just kind of running out of there. It was really unprofessional to me," April said.

"It's okay. I get it. Everyone has those days. What's on your mind, April? Talk to me." Jackson replied, hoping that April knew that he was there for her.

"I've thinking about high school the whole day today." April cleared her throat before continuing. "It's not entirely because of the bus accident, though. Um, my dad randomly called me today. I haven't spoken to him in a really long time—since I was 15 years old. He just said hi, but then I got paged to the pit, so I just hung up. I didn't want to talk to him."

"You started living with your sister and Shepard when you were in high school, right?" Jackson asked, hoping that she would elaborate further.

April sighed. She just needed to let it all out. "Growing up, I was pretty much neglected by my parents. Addison practically raised me. I never really understood why my parents were like that. My father was mostly away on business and my mother stayed busy with her friends or she travelled on her own. They always fought when they were both at home. It got worse when Addison went off to college."

April's voice cracked. She paused and took a deep breath. "I started hearing rumors that my dad was having an affair—that he had a mistress. I didn't know what to believe. My mom started drinking more and more. She was such a mess and I was all alone. Addison's was busy off at college. It was like she had escaped. I don't blame her, but I felt alone. It was me who had to clean up after my mom and take care of her when she'd come home drunk. I get it. She was hurting because of my dad, but I was a child too. I didn't have anyone to take of me. She abandoned me too. This one day, when I was 15, I came home early from school. It had been a half day. My mom wasn't home—she was away in London—and I thought the house was empty. But I heard some noises from my dad's study. So, I went up there and pushed the door open and there he was, screwing his secretary on his desk. It—it was a lot for me to take. Suddenly, everything made sense.. My father slept around with his secretaries and he didn't care about me either. This was why my mom was rarely around the house, why she drank so much. I was neglected by both of my parents. It's really fucking traumatizing to walk in on your father in the throes of passion with his secretary." April bitterly laughed and wiped a couple tears off her face.

Jackson stayed quiet and listened to her. He put his arm around April's shoulder and rubbed her arm softly. She leaned in and put her head on his shoulder.

"I still don't understand why my mother never divorced my father or why my father never divorced my mother. They clearly weren't happy with each other. Did she stay with him for the money? Or did he never leave her because he still had some semblance of a sense of responsibility towards her? Addison doesn't talk to our parents anymore, but they were different when she was child. I guess that was before their marriage had broken down and then, somehow, I came along. When Addison was away at college and then medical school, everything deteriorated more. Anyways, after that happened, I knew that I couldn't stay there anymore. My parents didn't even try to stop me. They never tried contacting me afterwards. I just packed up my bags and showed up at Addy and Derek's house and they took me in. They were doing their residencies in New York. I still think about my mother sometimes. She's suffering too, but she doesn't know how to help herself. She didn't know how to help me. When I got into medical school, I called my mom to tell her. I still cared at that point, you know. All my life, they treated me like I was nothing, capable of nothing. But they're my parents, so I had hoped they would kind of be proud of me. I wanted her to know that I was actually capable of achieving something. She was drunk when she picked up the phone."

"I'm sorry, April," Jackson murmured to her. "Today has been awful for you."

"It's okay, it is what it is. I've mostly been okay. I accepted it long ago. It took two and a half years of seeing a shrink to finally get over walking in on my father and just my parents in general, but I'm better now. I don't let it get to me on most days—or at least, I try not to. It's just that the phone call from him and the bus accident today brought everything back. I'm good on most days," April murmured again, trying to convince Jackson that she was truly okay. A tear escaped and she quickly wiped it away.

Jackson nodded. They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the setting sun and enjoying the summer evening's breeze. Jackson broke the silence. "Do you want me to tell you about my father?" April nodded to him and Jackson continued. "It's not easy being Harper Avery's grandson. They never expected me to become a doctor. They never expected greatness out of me. The only thing worse than being Harper Avery's grandson is being Harper Avery's son. My dad was a cardiothoracic surgeon like my grandfather had wanted him to be. But, I guess it just became too much for him…too much stress and too many expectations. He left when I was eight years old." At that, April looked up at him with worry on her face. He continued on, "It was really hard for a long time. I felt lost and abandoned. In some ways, I felt like I had to work extra hard because I felt like I needed to prove that I was capable of amounting to something. I didn't want my dad's absence to ruin my life. That's why my mom—bless her heart—has always been a little too involved in my life. I know that it comes from place of love and concern, but she's always channeled all her energy towards me ever since my dad left. I know she does it because she loves me and she gets lonely, but it's a little overbearing sometimes. Anyways, I haven't seen him since, and I don't really care to see or hear from him ever again. He decided to leave me and my mom, so why should I worry about him anymore?"

April nodded in agreement. "I'm so sorry, Jackson. For what it's worth, I think you're an amazing doctor and your father is missing out on seeing what an amazing person you've become."

"Right back at ya, Little Red." Jackson's use of her nickname made her softly giggle for some reason. "I completely understand why you didn't want to hear from your dad. You're completely justified in cutting him off, April. You don't need to let him be in your life if he's toxic. He's hurt you so much and you don't need to give him your time if you don't want to. He has no reason to be contacting you all of a sudden, after so many years."

April nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I plan on ignoring him. I'm in a good place in life now, and I don't want him ruining that for me. It would ruin all the progress I've worked so hard for."

"God, aren't we just sad with our shitty, absent fathers? This is depressing," Jackson lightly offered.

April dryly chuckled. "Yeah, but it's nice to know that I'm not alone, that someone else understands what I'm going through. Seriously, Jackson thank you for sharing that with me. I know that it wasn't easy for you."

"Hey, we can tell each other anything, right?"

April nodded. "Of course." They settled into a comfortable silence as they watched the rest of the sun settle.

"Our shifts are almost over, wanna get drinks at Joe's?" He asked.

"Ugh, yes! I could really use a drink or two right now, especially after the day I've had today."

"I'll even buy you a drink just to cheer you up."

"Careful, Dr. Avery. People might think you're playing favorites with your interns."

"Hey, drinks are outside of work. Besides, you already know you're my favorite. Not my fault that the rest of the interns in your group are careless, brainless idiots."

April giggled. Jackson made her feel so comfortable. She could just talk to him and know that he would listen and comfort her somehow. He just knew what to do. She hadn't ever come across any man like before him. The only people in her life she could truly depend on were Addison, Derek, Mark and Lexie. However, she was slowly starting to realize that Jackson was beginning to become her person too.

**A/N: So, what did you guys think of that? I tried to make it emotional and give more background on April's childhood. Also, I wanted her to be able to trust Jackson more. He's slowly becoming her person. Please leave me a review of what you guys thought of that! –Mia **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey, you guys! I'm back! I'm so so SO sorry I dropped off the face of the Earth for a few months! I had finals at the end of April, then I graduated college and took the MCAT in May, applied to medical schools in June and I've been busy with work and secondary applications ever since. It's been hectic which is why I put off publishing the next chapter. Hopefully, I'll be able to post the updates regularly from now on. Thank you to everyone who has been waiting patiently. **

**Chapter Seven: Dance It Out **

April and Lexie sat side by side in silence. Both of them were drained and too upset to talk. They were currently sitting in an empty exam room. Lexie stared at the empty bed while April sat next to her, wringing her hands in her lap. They had both lost patients today and it had been particularly difficult on them. Lexie had lost her patient, Nick Hanscom, who had had a major artery exposed following the removal of a tumor. She had been responsible for making sure that the artery did not blow, but it had anyways in the end. When he had started bleeding out, Lexie had panicked but, but she had done the best she could've in that situation. She felt like a failure—like she or the hospital could have done something to prevent his death.

April's patient, Seth Green, had been a devoted husband and a perfect father to two little girls. He had been an honest, good person. His family had been his whole world. Dr. Hahn had done everything she could to save his life and he had miraculously pulled through during the surgery. There had been a high chance of him hemorrhaging on the table, but he had somehow pulled through. However, while he was still recovering in the I.C.U., he had started coding all of a sudden. Everyone—all of the attendings—had been too busy and running around. So, it had fallen on April, simply an intern, to run the code and try to save his life. In the end, he had lost his life. He hadn't wanted to abandon and leave his family, but the circumstances had been out of his hands. Through the course of following this patient's case, April had gotten to know the family quite well. She had tried not to get too emotionally attached, but here she was, sitting in shock. He had been the perfect father to his little girls—the type of father she had wished she had growing up. Perhaps, that's why this loss was particularly hard on her.

So, there they were— Lexie and April sitting quietly in the exam room, side by side, still trying to process their shock. They were both too upset to even talk to each other and comfort each other. Normally, in a situation like this, April would try to seek out Jackson. She knew that he would know the perfect thing to say. However, he was still stuck in a surgery. There was nothing he could do for her right now.

Christina walked in, pulling both Lexie and April out of their trance. "You did a good job today and it was not easy. What you did was not easy. It was brave."

Lexie spoke up first. "We killed him. The hospital, Sloan, us. We were not prepared."

"Yeah, that happens sometimes," Christina replied.

"That's…Do you have any idea how backwards that is?" Lexie asked.

"We help more than we hurt," Christina replied.

"Sometimes, it isn't enough," April quietly murmured.

Christina sighed loudly in exasperation. "Come on. You're coming with me." The rainbow sisters were being overcast by a large storm cloud, it was bothering even Christina to see them like this.

"What?"

"You both need a couple of drinks," Christina said. "It's never easy losing a patient. Some losses are harder than others and there's nothing that can really ever make it right. You'll just continue sitting here, wallowing in your own self-hatred, because you'll keep feeling like you could've done something more. Hence, you're coming with me. We're going to get drunk. Maybe, even dance it out a bit."

April raised her eyebrows at Christina Yang. She hadn't really interacted with the woman a lot since she had arrived at Seattle Grace Hospital. She mostly heard about her from Lexie and Jackson and all she knew was that she was a competitive, cold surgeon. So, her offering words of comfort and telling the girls that they needed to dance it out came as a complete shock to April. Was the woman on drugs?

When neither woman moved from their seats, Christina moved around the table and stood directly in front of their seats. She stuck out her hands and pulled them both up from their seats. "Don't make me say this twice. Go to the locker room and change your clothes. Then, meet me in the lobby."

An hour later, Christina led Lexie and April into Meredith's frat house. In their hands, they carried the ingredients they would need for tequila shots. "Where are we?" April whispered to Lexie.

"This is Meredith's house—where all the others live too," Lexie whispered back.

"Oh my god, I shouldn't be here!" April whispered loudly, in panic. April's eyes widened in both shock and horror. She shouldn't have listened to Christina and followed her there. Was the woman mad? Meredith would likely throw April out when she saw her at the frat house.

"Both of you shut up," Christina snapped at them.

She opened the door to the house. April hid behind Lexie who hid behind Christina.

"Hey, I brought supplies," Christina said to Meredith as she settled the brown bag on a table. Lexie and April were too nervous to walk into the house, so they still stood at the door. Christina noticed their stillness and exasperatedly motioned them to come inside. Slowly, Lexie and April walked out of the foyer area and into the view of Meredith, who was sitting on the couch. When Meredith saw the interns, she gave Christina a look.

"Oh, come on, Meredith. They were looking so pathetic, even I couldn't just leave them there."

Meredith sighed loudly. The two interns were already there and there was no changing that. She needed to drink if she was going to get through this. "I'm drinking. Are you drinking, Lexie? April?"

"Yeah, a drink would be good," Lexie replied.

Forty minutes and several tequila shots later, Meredith, Christina, Lexie and April were blasting music in the living room and dancing it out. They needed to bring some energy back—get their blood pumping. April now saw what Christina had meant. The alcohol, music and dancing were doing the trick. Her head felt light and her blood was pumping in her ears—an effect from the combination of the drinking and dancing. Her mind was perfectly distracted from the events of the day.

Jackson finally came home after his long surgery and looked at the combination of girls in the living room in surprise. "Jackson, come join us! We're dancing it out!" Meredith called out to him.

"I'm going to grab a beer from the kitchen. I'll be back," Jackson replied. He shot them one last amused smirk before heading towards the kitchen. The combination of the twisted sisters dancing and drinking with the rainbow sisters was amusing to say the least. He had heard about what had happened to Lexie and April's patients coding and not making it. He figured that Meredith and Christina had taken pity on them and taken them in under their care.

He opened his bottle of beer and brought a couple more in his other hand. He gingerly took a seat on the couch in front of the girls. His surgery had run eight hours long and he had been on his feet the whole day. It had been a difficult day for everyone. He took a sip and watched the girls—April, in particular. He hadn't ever seen her let loose like this before, not even in college. She was typically a little uptight and tense about things. He liked seeing her like this—all carefree and dancing like she didn't care about what anybody thought of her. He had to hand it to Christina and Meredith for bringing this out in April.

April was out of breath from her dancing and needed a breather, so she sat down on the couch next to Jackson. She tried to catch her breath. "Fancy seeing you here, April. Are you following me?" He teased her. He noticed that her cheeks were flushed from the alcohol and dancing.

"Hey! I got here before you did! Plus, Christina brought Lexie and me here. So, I'm technically not breaking the rules, right? You didn't bring me here," April pointed out to Jackson.

"Relax, Little Red. I'm just teasing you. You're feisty when you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk!" She argued back.

"How many shots did you drink?"

"I don't know. I lost count after six."

"You have work tomorrow. You're going to have a killer hangover tomorrow morning," Jackson pointed out to her.

"That's a problem for later, Jackson. I'm dancing and drinking and I feel great!" She giggled.

"April, get your ass back over here! Dance it out!" Lexie called out to April.

"I'm coming, Lex! I just need to catch my breath first." April said, as she grabbed the bottle of beer from Jackson's hands and took a long sip.

"Hey, that's mine!" Jackson said.

April ignored him. "It's mine now."

"I haven't let loose like this since the Europe trip April and I went on during the summer between undergrad and medical school," Lexie said, out of breath.

"You guys went on a Europe trip before med school?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah, Apes and I slept through Europe!" Lexie said proudly. Clearly, she had had too much to drink.

"Hey, that was all you, Lexie! Not me!" April called out from the couch.

"You guys slept your way through Europe?" Christina asked, eyebrows raised at Lexie and April. "Damn, some things really do depend on genetics and nature." Meredith grumbled at Christina's words.

"Why?" Lexie asked.

"Because, Meredith and her bestie from undergrad went on a Europe trip before starting medical school. And they slept their way through Europe too," Christina explained. Lexie laughed in response.

"That's great and all, except I didn't sleep my way through Europe!" April exclaimed. Her drunk mind was still focused on Lexie's claim. Jackson chuckled at her antics. She was _so _drunk.

"Oh, shut up, Apes! What about that guy in Glasgow? He had a cute accent! Or that guy in—" Lexie replied.

"Lex, shut up!" April downed the rest of Jackson's beer.

"Who's this guy in Glasgow?" He asked her. He was amused at how flustered she had gotten.

April came closer to his face and replied. Her drunken mind inhibited her from filtering her sentences. Her lips almost brushed against his ears as she whispered. "Why? Are you jealous, Jackson?" Her breath fanned out against his neck.

Jackson raised a single eyebrow at April. Not only did she let loose and get flustered easily when she was drunk, but she was also flirtatious. Before he could reply to her, Lexie came and pulled April to her feet and dragged her back to where Meredith and Christina were dancing. The girls continued dancing it out and Jackson comfortably drank his beer on the couch. He smiled as he watched April laugh with Lexie and the others.

George and Izzie appeared in the door way. "Come on, Izzie. Dance party!" Meredith called.

"You wanna dance?" Izzie asked George.

"I will if, uh, you want me to," George replied.

After they joined, Christina called out to Jackson. "Avery, get your pretty ass over here! You're dancing too!"

Jackson chuckled in response. "I don't dance, Yang."

"Fine, suit yourself," she replied.

The morning after, April woke up with a splitting headache. Her mouth felt dry and she felt like her head was about to burst from an aneurysm or something. She groaned as she opened her eyes and sat up on the couch. She and Lexie had slept on the two couches in Meredith Grey's living room. In her sober mind, the idea sounded impossible to her. "Lex, wake up. We have work today. Are you getting up?," she called out to Lexie.

Lexie slowly lifted her head. "Oh, what is that smell?"

Now that Lexie mentioned it, April took a moment to smell what she was referring to. The putrid odor made her stomach roll around and made her feel even more nauseous than her hangover had been making her feel.

"Lexie! April! Breakfast!" Meredith called out to them from the kitchen.

"Do we have to?" April whispered to Lexie.

"We have to! She made breakfast for us!" Lexie whispered back.

April and Lexie both groaned and got up from the coaches. Alex came down the stairs. "Where's your girlfriend?" Lexie asked him.

"Back with her husband, I'm guessing," Alex replied. "And I don't have a girlfriend."

"Or a conscience, apparently."

"Yeah, but you knew that going in" Alex smirked back at Lexie.

Lexie scoffed and rolled her eyes at Alex and headed towards the kitchen. April followed in after her.

"I'm not saying we have to build it now, but we have to plan it now." April could hear Derek speaking to Meredith in the kitchen. She internally groaned. This was about to get awkward.

"Dude, what the hell is that?" Alex asked Derek.

"Meredith cooked. She wanted to do something nice for Lexie," he replied.

"You cooked for me?" Lexie asked.

"And for April," Meredith replied.

"April?" Derek asked.

"Hey, Derek," April called out as she finally stepped into the kitchen. She cleared her throat. "Fancy seeing you here," she awkwardly said.

"What are you doing here?"

"Um, Lexie and I drank and danced it out with Meredith and Christina last night. Lexie and I ended up just staying the night," she explained. Derek nodded in response. "You didn't have to make us breakfast, Meredith," April said.

"It's no big deal. It's just eggs and avocado and whatever cheese that was in the fridge," Meredith replied.

"Oh, I love, um, avocados," Lexie replied. She sat down at the table and slowly took a small bite.

"Is it okay?" Meredith asked.

"Mm. Mm-hm." Lexie replied with her mouth full of whatever Meredith had concocted.

Meredith turned away and worked on something else in the kitchen.

"You're allergic to eggs, Lex," April whispered to Lexie.

"Shhh! Don't let her hear you! I can't not eat this!" Lexie replied back. She hesitantly took another bite of whatever Meredith had managed to make. April took a deep breath and started on her place. She had to do this—for the sake of her finally building a relationship with the woman who was now in Derek's life. Plus, she needed some sustenance if she was going to make it through a day of work while fighting a hangover. She forced the bite of egg down her throat with a gulp of water.

Jackson finally came into kitchen and grabbed milk from the fridge. April nearly choked on her eggs when she saw him and remembered her unfiltered words to him from the night before. She internally groaned. Tequila was her kryptonite and she was never going to drink ever again. Jackson took a seat next to her at the counter and April nervously kept her head down and focused on her inedible eggs.

"How does your head feel?" Jackson asked her.

April swallowed her bite before answering him. "Like an aneurysm just burst. I don't ever want to even smell a shot of Tequilla ever again." She prayed that he would just ignore her flirtatious behavior from the night before.

Jackson chuckled in response. "Make sure you stay hydrated throughout the day and take something for that headache. Thankfully, I don't think today is going to be as hectic as yesterday was."

April looked at him sharply. "Don't say that. Then, you'll just jinx it."

Jackson chuckled at her antics and they finished their breakfast, side by side, as they chatted with the others in the kitchen. April was grateful that Jackson hadn't brought up her drunken behavior from the night before. She enjoyed her friendship with him and didn't want to ruin what they had with her misinterpreting his interest in her as anything romantic. She knew that that's not how he saw her.

**A/N: Well, what did you guys think? Please leave me a review! I promise things will be heating up in the next few chapters! **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey, guys! I'm back with a new chapter! I have to say that I am a little disappointed with the response to the last chapter. I only got a couple of review. I am a very busy person; I have work and I'm currently preparing for medical school. So, please let me know if you're still interested in this story. It does take up a lot of time to write the chapters and I only want to continue if I know that people are actually reading this. **

**Chapter Eight: Unexpected Connections **

It was a normal day like any other day. Jackson was working in the E.R. today and his interns were in various places. He was getting medication for a patient when something made him stop dead in his tracks. April was leaning against the wall as some dorky paramedic handed her a coffee. Jackson narrowed his eyes as he watched them talk. He was annoyed. That was their thing—Jackson and April's thing. They often bought each other coffee during their breaks, so what was she doing accepting coffee from this nobody? He watched as the dorky paramedic said something and April smiled at him and softly laughed in response. He didn't know why, but this entire sight just rubbed him the wrong way. There was just something about the dorky paramedic that didn't sit right with him, Jackson told himself. As his _friend_, April deserved better than some dorky paramedic who appeared to be fumbling over his words. She could do better than that idiot. Still, there was just something about this entire scene that unsettled him. He had seen the paramedic hang around April the last several days. This was not an entirely new development. While he had kept his eye on them before, today's scene of him handing April coffee and her laughing along with his jokes disturbed Jackson on a whole new level.

"Dude, you're jealous," Alex said as he came up to his friend, pulling Jackson out of his thoughts.

"What? What are you talking about?" Jackson asked as he continued looking for the medication.

"You're jealous of that paramedic—the one trying to flirt with Little Red," Alex snickered.

"April and I are just friends. That's it. Besides, you're forgetting one key piece of information: she's my intern," Jackson countered.

"Yeah, but I slept with Little Grey. It's no big deal. Just go for it, dude. You need to get it out of your system. You're starting to look a little pathetic."

"I'm not going to sleep with April. She works directly under me, meaning I'm her boss. She's not some girl that I'm just going to fuck and then ignore. More importantly, she's just my friend. That would be so weird, man," Jackson reiterated.

"Sure, whatever you say, dude. Is that nurse still mad at you after you didn't call?" Alex asked as he changed the subject.

Jackson sighed. "Yeah. She's hot and has a nice personality and everything. We slept together and it was great, but that's all I wanted. I guess she was expecting more. We just don't vibe enough for it to progress any further" Jackson said.

Alex chuckled. "Dude, you're having major chick problems. Anyways, I gotta go. I'm on Shepard's service today. See you later."

Jackson watched his friend go. He turned his head back to watch April and the paramedic interact. He was clearly trying to impress her, but Jackson wasn't sure if it was working or not. He sighed. Alex was definitely spewing some ridiculous nonsense. Sure, April was attractive. He wasn't blind, obviously. Despite that, they were just friends. Not to mention, she was his intern, meaning that he was technically her boss. He finally found what he was looking for and headed back to his patient.

Mathew had first approached April a few days ago. She had noticed him before and had seen him around before when he was brining patients into the pit. They had spoken a few times. Often, if she was working in the E.R., he would swing by and say hi and talk to her for a few minutes. He had asked for her number and she had given it to him, thinking that she was just making another friend at the hospital. So, when he had asked April if they could get coffee some time, she had readily agreed. After all, it was a just a simple, innocent coffee. However, she wasn't completely clueless. He was interested in her. She didn't know how she felt about that. He was a handsome and tall and sweet. He seemed like he was the perfect gentleman. Sure, he was slightly awkward, but April didn't mind that too much. In fact, she found it a little charming. It was nice, and even flattering, to know that her presence could make another man be little nervous and fumble over his words for once. However, she still wasn't sure how she felt about him.

This morning, April was working in the E.R. because Jackson was rotating in the E.R. this week. She was a little sleep deprived since she had had an overnight shift the night before. She really needed some coffee and was heading over to find the coffee cart. As she rounded a corner, she found Matthew standing there, waiting for her with two coffees in his hands. As she approached him, he handed one to her.

She grinned at him. "This is exactly what I needed right now. Thank you so much. How did you know?"

"I saw you earlier and you looked really tired, so I figured I could help you a little bit. Besides, I'm only fulfilling my promise for coffee. I hope that's okay? You did agree to get coffee sometime after all," he answered her.

"No, no, this is great! I'm sorry, I know I agreed to get coffee with you some time. It's been a few days since then, but I've just been so busy with work," April said.

"No worries, I totally understand that the life of a surgeon is incredibly busy and time consuming."

April giggled in response. "It always feels really funny when someone calls me a surgeon, because I'm only an intern. I mean I'm lucky if I get to scrub into a surgery only to just observe or hold some instrument. I mean, I haven't _really _performed a surgery yet," April said.

"Hey, you'll get there. I've seen you work and you're pretty amazing. I think you'll become an amazing surgeon."

April blushed in response. She hadn't realized that he had been paying so much attention to her. They settled into an easy conversation. They mostly talked about safe topics—their work and how April was liking Seattle so far. A few minutes later, Matthew finally worked up to what he had been meaning to ask her. "Hey, so I don't know if this is too soon or too forward of me too ask—but I think you're a really great girl and you're really pretty and smart and…"

April softly laughed at him fumbling over his words. Honestly, it reminded her of herself, but it was flattering to know that she could make someone else this nervous. She cut him off to save him the embarrassment. "Matthew, just spit it out!" She laughed again at how his cheeks slightly reddened. It was endearing and a little adorable.

"I was wondering if you would go out with me some time? Like maybe dinner?"

"Oh…" April had not been expecting that from him. She knew that he was interested in her on some level, but she hadn't been expecting for him to just come out and ask her out so soon.

"Oh no, I'm sorry. Was that too forward of me? Should I have not asked you out?" He started fumbling again.

"No, no! It's not that," she reassured him. "It's just that I wasn't expecting that. Um…I'll think about it, okay? Plus, I'm not entirely sure about my schedule this weekend so I need to check first." April added the last part to reassure him further.

"Okay, sounds good." He gave her a big smile. "I have to get back to work, but I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure," April replied. She watched him go. Truthfully, she wasn't sure whether she should go out with him or not. It wasn't that she didn't like Matthew. He was sweet and seemed like he was a gentleman. He was cute too. So, then why was April hesitating to go out with a nice, cute guy? Normally, she wouldn't have such an issue about saying yes to a guy like Matthew. Because, there just wasn't a _connection _with him. She felt like he just didn't understand her—not the way Jackson did. On that rooftop, she had bared her soul to Jackson and he had been perfect. He understood her; they could relate to each other. It was like some cosmic force in the universe had pulled these two individuals together—simply because they just understood each other. She felt comfortable around him and never had to worry about him judging her. Despite that, she knew that they were just friends. That's all they would ever be. So, for the life of her, she couldn't understand why she couldn't just accept a date from this cute, nice guy. She shouldn't be having a dilemma over this.

It had been an exhausting day and it was only 1 pm. A trauma patient of April's had coded all before they could even get him up to the O.R. It was a lunch time and she and Lexie were standing in line, waiting to pay for their lunches. She scanned the cafeteria, looking for where they could sit today. She spotted Matthew sitting at a table with a couple of the other paramedics. She usually didn't see the paramedics at the hospital's cafeteria, so why were they here today? As Lexie and she paid for their lunches, she quickly yanked Lexie's arm before Lexie could walk towards a table.

"Lex, let's eat in the tunnels today. I'm not really feeling the cafeteria today," April said.

"Sure, Apes, but is there any particular reason? Anyone you're avoiding today too?" Lexie asked as the two interns started making their way towards the tunnels.

April knew that she could hide nothing from Lexie. That girl had a sixth sense when it came to things like this. She figured that her friend could offer her some perspective, so she told her about Matthew, how he'd asked her out and how she had told him that she would think about it. "I've seen him around; he's pretty cute—in a dorky, wholesome way. Why haven't you said yes yet?"

"I don't know. There just isn't really a spark with him, you know. I just don't want to waste my time," April answered.

"One dinner won't hurt, Apes. You've only spoken to the guy a couple times, so, of course, you don't know yet if there's a connection. You should say yes to dinner and get to know him better. Who knows? You guys might click," Lexie offered.

"Hmm, okay. You might be on to something. I'm still not completely sure, though. I'll think a little more about it and I'll let him know tonight," April said as they rounded a corridor.

As the two friends approached the tunnels, they realized they were not alone. Meredith, Christina, Izzie, Alex and Jackson were sitting on the abandoned gurney and wheelchairs and having lunch too. At the noise of the two interns in the tunnels, the residents looked up at them. There was an awkward moment where they all just started at each other. Lexie finally spoke up. "Oh, we didn't realize that the tunnels wouldn't be empty. Um, we can leave. We'll leave you alone," Lexie quickly said. While Lexie and April had gotten drunk and danced it out with Christina and Meredith, they weren't completely sure if all was well with the twisted sisters.

She and April turned out and were about to walk out, but Meredith spoke up. "No, it's okay. You guys can eat here. Join us," Meredith offered. Meredith and Lexie had been slowly making progress and she figured that letting her sister sit with her at lunch couldn't hurt. April and Lexie turned back around and approached the five residents. There was an open spot next to Jackson on the gurney and he patted it and motioned for April to come over and join him. Lexie sat in an empty, abandoned wheelchair next to Izzie.

Izzie spoke first. "Who are you guys avoiding? This is the spot we eat lunch at when we're avoiding people or something and don't want to deal with the cafeteria."

"Who or what are you avoiding?" Lexie countered.

"I'm avoiding…George," Izzie finally said.

"Are you guys just not speaking to each other anymore?" Meredith asked.

"It's complicated…" Izzie answered. There was an awkward moment. April had heard about how George O'Malley, who was repeating his intern year, had cheated on his wife, Callie Torres, with Izzie Stevens. Although, George hadn't been in the same intern group as the five residents, she knew that they were all close with him. Well, maybe not all of them, but she knew that he was particularly close friend with Meredith and had been close with Izzie up until all of this had happened. She wasn't particularly close with George, but she knew that Lexie was friends with him. However, April knew Callie well because she was Addison's closest friend at the hospital.

Alex finally broke the silence. "Montgomery has been on my ass the whole week. No offense, Little Red, but your sister is tough," Alex said.

April lowly chuckled. "None taken. Even in New York, she kind of had a reputation for working her residents hard," she replied to Alex.

"Yeah, well, speaking of avoiding attendings, I'm avoiding Hahn. I've had enough of her bullshit," Christina said.

Jackson snickered at her. "You're just jealous that she's been giving me more of her cases," he replied to Christina.

"You know, she refuses to teach me because she thinks I've made it this far because I sleep with my mentors. But, you know what? I'm just attracted to a talent that matches my own. That isn't my problem; it's hers. Plus, she's only giving you the cardio surgeries because you're an Avery." Christina shot at Jackson.

"Or she's just keeping me on her service because I have a talent for cardio and it has nothing to do with the fact that my grandfather is a cardio surgeon?" Jackson countered.

"Whatever, Pretty Boy," Christina muttered as she rolled her eyes.

"Who are you avoiding, Little Red?" Izzie asked April, breaking the tension between Jackson and Izzie.

"Matthew," April asked, deciding not to elaborate further.

Jackson's eyebrows crinkled in confusion. "Who's Matthew?" He asked.

"He's that paramedic. Kinda tall, has brown hair," April answered.

Jackson knew instantly who she was talking about. Matthew was the paramedic he had seen April talking to earlier. His curiosity was peaked. "Why are you avoiding him?" He asked, trying to hide a grin.

"Because he asked April out and she said she would think about it," Lexie answered for her friend. She had caught on to Jackson's motives in his curiosity about the paramedic. How interesting…his reaction had made Lexie curious. She wondered if she could elicit a reaction out of him. She noticed his brows furrow slightly as she answered him.

"So, you're gonna say no to him?" Meredith asked.

"No, I told him that I would think about it. I haven't given him an answer yet. I'm still thinking about it," April clarified.

"I've seen him around. He's kind of cute. You should go for it, Little Red," Izzie said.

"Honestly, it's messy getting involved with the nurses and paramedics," Jackson answered, hoping he could sway April's decision.

"Are you speaking from experience?" April asked, as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Well, no. Not exactly…" Jackson said as he evaded April's question.

"Who are _you_ avoiding in the cafeteria, Pretty Boy?" Christina snickered.

Before Jackson could reply, Alex replied for him. "He's avoiding Jen."

April's brows scrunched up in confusion. "Who's Jen?" Lexie asked the group.

"She's that blonde nurse who works in in Peds, right?" Meredith asked.

"She has a nice rack," Alex smirked.

"Dude, shut up!" Jackson snapped. He hated this exposé on his sexual history.

"Wait, why are you avoiding her?" Izzie asked.

Before Jackson could reply, Alex answered for him. "Because, Avery hooked up with her and didn't bother calling her afterwards. To be honest, it's not his fault; the nurses get way too attached and emotionally involved."

April pursed her lips at Alex's answer and shot Jackson a side eye. She wasn't jealous. Nope, she was definitely not jealous. They were just friends, so she had no right to get jealous. He could sleep with whoever he wanted to and she should be able to accept a date with whoever she wanted. She reconsidered Matthew's offer, deciding to go out with him. She would let him know later. There was no reason why she should be holding herself back from dating. Besides, Matthew was a great guy! Why shouldn't she give him a fair chance? She was pulled out of her thoughts by the conversation continuing.

"Honestly, getting involved with your coworkers is always a big, fat mistake," Meredith said all of a sudden. Everyone paused their eating and looked at her in shock. Meredith was practically the poster child for sleeping with your boss or coworker. She and Derek had been involved since the day they had both arrived at the hospital.

"Care to elaborate, Mer?" Izzie asked.

"Derek kissed this nurse named Rose a couple weeks ago. We broke up. He's been dating her ever since," Meredith blurted out. Four pairs of eyes looked at her in shock, then they looked between Meredith and April nervously. Meredith looked at April too, looking for some type of explanation. After all, she was like Derek's sister.

April cleared her throat. "Um, I had no idea that he was dating someone else. He doesn't exactly talk about his personal life with me. It's a little awkward, given that he…." April trailed off.

"…was married to your sister, Addison, for 12 years," Meredith supplied for her.

"Um, yeah exactly. Anyways, Derek hasn't mentioned anything about it to me. For what it's worth, knowing Derek, this Rose girl probably won't last very long," April said.

The five second year residents and two interns settled into conversation. They talked about their cases, the attendings and senior residents that annoyed them the most. It was nice really. After coming to Seattle, April hadn't really made a lot of friends. Really, Jackson was her only real friend at Seattle Grace besides Lexie. Sure, she had become friends with some of the other interns, but she wasn't particularly close with them. Her interaction with Alex was limited to that one time he and Jackson had gatecrashed Lexie and her awkward double date. She had mainly heard about him through Lexie. She and Izzie were friendly enough. However, her interactions with Meredith and Christina were limited. Christina Yang just plain scared her. She had heard all about her and her wrath from Lexie. Meredith and her had been cordial with each other; they weren't exactly friends, but they could get along just fine if they needed. She came to the conclusion that Meredith had finally thought to become a little friendly with April because she and Derek were not longer dating. Or perhaps, she had finally gotten over herself, considering she didn't really have a reason to hate April in the first place. After all, Derek and Addison's breakup had been amicable. Whatever the reason may be, it was a welcome change. Despite all of that, April felt that, perhaps, Lexie and she had found their place within this group of dysfunctional second year residents. She could see herself become good friends with them in the future.

When she later returned to the E.R., April caught Matthew to tell him her answer. "Um, hey, Matthew! I thought about it and I'd love to have dinner with you this weekend. How about Saturday night?" She asked.

"Really? I thought you were going to reject me," Matthew said to her.

That was _exactly _what she had been planning to originally do. She really didn't see a spark or emotional connection with Matthew, but Lexie was right. It wouldn't hurt to explore her options. Besides, she hadn't been on a real date since arriving to Seattle. This could be fun. Matthew was definitely a great guy. Who knows? Maybe, she would feel some connection with him after giving him a chance and going out to dinner with him. April nervously laughed. "Why would you say that? I'm looking forward to our date," April offered.

"Great. How about Dinner at 7 pm?" Matthew asked.

"Sounds good to me. I have to get back to work, but text me the details?"

"Will do. I'll see you later, April." Mathew gave her a broad smile.

With that, April walked back into E.R. in hopes of finding a surgical case. She was filled with apprehension about her date with Matthew. She wanted to like Matthew. She would give him a fair chance, she decided. He deserved that from her at the very least.

**A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed that! Please let me know what you think in a review! **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey, guys! I'm back with a new chapter! Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews for the last chapter! It really motivated me keep going with this story. So as a treat, this is an extra long chapter. Hope you like it! Be sure to leave me a review! **

**Chapter Nine: A Little R & R **

It was Saturday afternoon and both April and Addison had the whole day off—which was completely rare. They almost never had days off coinciding with each other. When April had moved out west to Seattle, both Addison and April had agreed that they needed to make some changes. They needed to communicate with each other and go back to how their relationship had been like before April had gotten busy with her own life in Boston and before Addison's marriage had completely fallen apart.

Both of them were in need of some pampering and relaxation, so they had decided to come to the spa together. They were going to get massages, facials, manicures and pedicures together—Addison's treat to April. Currently, they were getting massages together. Working long hours hunched over O.R. tables and fighting to save patients' lives could really make a surgeon's shoulders tense. There was a comfortable silence between the sisters for a few minutes.

Addison broke the silence first. "April, how do you like Seattle Grace so far?"

"It hasn't been an easy past couple of months. I don't know how you deal with it, but the hospital is a breeding ground for gossip. When I first arrived, it was kind of hard. It was mostly because of that welcome Derek and Mark gave me together," April said as she rolled her eyes.

"Men are childish and immature. They're so primitive and territorial—almost like animals," Addison chuckled.

"Exactly!"

"You know I've only seen Derek punch Mark for two women so far: Meredith and you. Honestly, I don't know whether I should be relieved or offended that he never felt like he should punch Mark for me."

"Derek is a complicated person. Obviously, he cares a lot for you, Addison. He was married to you for 12 years, and you guys dated all through medical school before that. Nothing can erase that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Did you know that Derek and Meredith broke up? That he's dating some nurse named Rose?"

"They what?! He's dating a _nurse_?!" Addison nearly shot up with shock and surprised.

"Addy, calm down! I wouldn't have brought it up if I knew it would make you so upset and stressed."

Addison settled back into her massage. "I'm not stressed, per se. I'm just surprised. Meredith and Derek slept together _technically _while he and I were still married. I mean, not that I'm the poster child for staying committed to your spouse in a marriage…but I really thought she was the one for him, you know? That's how I kind of came to terms with the divorce. I told myself that Derek and I couldn't make things work because he was already so completely in love with her," Addison rambled on.

"It's okay, Addison. I know what you mean. I was pretty shocked too when I first heard."

"Who told you?"

"It wasn't Derek, obviously. He's my brother and I love him, but I feel like we have an unspoken rule between us that he's to not discuss his relationships with other women with me. It's a little…awkward and weird. Surprisingly, it was Meredith herself who told me. Well, actually she just blurted it out to all of us while we were having lunch."

"So, you two are friends now?"

"Well, we're not exactly besties, but we've become friendly with each other," April explained.

"It's okay if you girls ever do become friends with each other. I mean, I will certainly never be friends with Meredith Grey. We're friendly to a certain extent too, but we will never be friends. However, if Derek and she ever get their acts together, you'll still see her around. You're Derek's baby sister just as much as you are mine. It wouldn't hurt to become friends with her. All I'm saying is that, it wouldn't hurt me if you did become friends with her. Derek is just temporarily confused. They'll find their way back to each other. He loves her in a way that I don't think he ever loved me, you know?"

April pursed her lips at Addison's despondent tone. "How have you been coping with things lately, Addy?"

Addison let out a long sigh. "Where do I begin, Apple? I feel like I lost a part of myself in the past one year. It's clear to me now that my marriage with Derek was already over before things got messy with Mark and Meredith. We weren't communicating with each other; we were essentially just robots stuck in a marriage. That's how I fell into an affair with Mark. He gave me the attention and love that I so craved from Derek. It was so, so stupid of me, but I fell for it. Mark's a good guy, deep down, but he's just a mess. I'm a mess too and it just made for a volatile relationship. We never would've made it. I realized that later, after I had already messed things up in my marriage. So, I stupidly chased after Derek to Seattle. At that point, it was too late. He was already too deeply in love with her. Derek chose me initially, did you know that? He's such a good guy; duty and honor mean so much to him. But his heart wasn't in it anymore. He couldn't stay away from Meredith; it was clear to me then. I found out that they slept together and that was the push I need to break things off with Derek for good. After the divorce, I felt even more lost than I ever had before. I considered leaving Seattle for a long time. I wanted to leave, have a baby on my own and start life over. I almost moved to L.A. to join Naomi, but I didn't want to give up and make another impulsive decision. I thought I owed it to myself to keep fighting. So, now I'm a brand new Addison, post-McDreamy and post-McSteamy."

April softly giggled at Addison's use of those nicknames for Derek and Sloan. April tenderly reached for Addison's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Addy, I want you to know that I'm always going to be there for you, okay? No matter what. I know we lost each other a little bit in the last couple of years, but we're a team, right? Addy and her Apple. We'll get through this together." Addison squeezed April's hand back.

"Enough about me. What about you? What happened to Patrick? I thought things were going well with him. Why did you guys break up all of a sudden?" Addison asked, referring to April's ex-boyfriend.

April pursed her lips. She hadn't thought about Patrick in so long—not since she had moved to Seattle. "It's complicated. I don't know…it's kind of hard to explain. He's a really great guy, but I just don't think it would've ended up working out. By all accounts, he is the perfect guy and I should've been happy with him. I don't know; I just felt like maybe something was missing? I'm not a romantic and I'm generally pessimistic when it comes to love, to be honest. I always had doubts about our relationship in the back of my mind, but I realized that I didn't feel that passion with Patrick. I don't know what the problem was. Maybe we didn't make enough time for each other and got too used to each other. Patrick's still in Boston, and I was supposed to stay in Boston after medical school and do my residency at Mass Gen. Then, you called and I decided to move here. Honestly, it just made breaking up with him easier. Moving here finally gave me a reason," April explained.

Addison pursed her lips because she knew exactly what April had done. She never let herself completely trust a man or let him completely in. She had built her walls too damn high and she never let anyone in. She was too scared of getting hurt. She always fled at the slightest indication of trouble. "Apes, you need to give yourself the chance to be happy. Don't just run away from everyone. You deserve to be loved."

"I know that," April quietly murmured, but she didn't sound so convincing to Addison. "You're just like her, you know."

"Who?"

"There's this older woman who I became close with in Boston. She's actually my mentor, but she's something of a mother figure to me now. She got it into my head that a passionate, all-consuming love is the only love worth fighting for. She kept telling me over and over that if a man is not there for you through thick and thin, then you need to let that man go. He's not worth it. With Patrick, there were never any grand romantic gestures and I normally I wouldn't care for things like that. But this woman, she really made me believe that it was worth waiting and fighting for a love that makes you breathless. I'm still not completely convinced, but I didn't really see Patrick and I surviving a long-distance relationship and he wanted to stay in Boston."

"She sounds like a good woman, Apes. Have you been dating anyone new since you've got here?"

"No, I haven't met anyone since coming here." April squirmed. It was always hard lying to her sister.

"I don't believe you! I thought there was something going on between you and Avery?" Addison asked. Addison hummed as the masseuse hit a particularly sore spot.

April shook her head at the irony. Here, she was, raving to Addison about how the great Catherine Avery had convinced her that it was worth waiting for a great love. Meanwhile, she was completely confused about her own feelings for Jackson Avery. "Um no, Jackson and I are just friends. He's helped me a lot in adjusting to life at Seattle Grace. Not to mention, he's literally my boss! Besides that, we're just really good friends." April nervously reiterated.

"Good friends, huh? I mean, have you seen his eyes? The man is absolutely gorgeous" Addison teased her baby sister.

April blushed. "I swear we're just friends, Addy! Besides, I actually have a date tonight. His name is Matthew and he's a paramedic. You might've seen him around the pit." April hoped that the change in topic would diverge her sister's attention from her relationship or lack of relationship with Jackson.

"A _paramedic_?" Addison raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"It's just that there's a very obvious power dynamic between a surgeon and some measly paramedic. Don't get me wrong, he does do an important, essential job, but you're a _surgeon. _I mean, at the end of the day, only surgeons can truly understand other surgeons. Not many people can understand how dedicated we have to be to our jobs and the hours it takes. Our jobs come first and not many people understand that. I mean, Derek and I are both surgeons and are completely devoted to our jobs, but even we couldn't make a marriage work because we couldn't make time for each other," Addison offered.

"It's just one date. We shouldn't get too far ahead of ourselves. It could go nowhere after this one date." April nervously chewed on her bottom lip. Addison did have a point with her whole spiel, but it wasn't like she and Matthew were anywhere near being serious about each other. "We're just getting to know each other. It could go nowhere. It's not like I'm contemplating spending the rest of my life with this guy," April said.

"You sound so enthusiastic about this guy, Apple," Addison sarcastically said.

"I swear I am excited about my date tonight! Matthew's…a nice guy," April argued. She wanted to take the heat off herself so she changed the topic to her sister's dating life. "Well, what about you Addison? Have you been dating anyone new? Anyone at the hospital?"

"I detest that our dating pool has to be limited to what little Seattle Grace Hospital has to offer!"

April giggled in response. "Hey, it's not our fault! Our work schedules barely give us any time to leave the hospital to meet new people like normal people do!"

"Sing it, sister!" Addison chuckled. "Anyways, I haven't really been dating anyone since the divorce and I'd really rather not get involved with anyone at the hospital. There's no one I'm quite interested in. There's also the fact that it would be awkward with both Derek and Mark working there."

"That's not fair to you! Derek is dating women at the hospital and Mark is….well, Mark has…."

"Screwed every woman in the entire hospital except for Meredith Grey, her little sidekicks and you?" Addison offered.

April frowned and winced. It did sound bad when Addison put it that way. "Yes, precisely that. It's honestly a miracle the nurses haven't caused a riot yet. So, you haven't met _anyone_ at all?" April asked again.

"Well, I attended this conference last month and I did meet this man who's a cardiothoracic surgeon in L.A. who peaked my interest a little bit…"

The spa day with Addison had been exactly what April had needed. She had needed a chance to just do something for herself and pamper herself. Working long, unpredictable hours at the hospital didn't exactly allow her to do that. It had been a few weeks since she had received that unceremonious call from her father. She had been contemplating whether she should bring it up with Addison. However, she had ended up deciding against it. She hadn't received another call from her father since then and she was content with that. She had come to the conclusion that her father's call had been some weird unexpected accident. Perhaps, he had butt dialed her on accident. That was exactly what it was. There was no need to worry Addison or herself with such a thing.

After getting back from her spa with Addison, April showered and got ready for her date with Matthew. Lexie had come back early from a shift at the hospital, so she helped April choose her outfit. She decided on an emerald green short-sleeved, midi wrap dress that fell just above her knees. She had always felt that the emerald green hue nicely paired with her pale skin and red hair. She curled her hair slightly and tousled it into loose waves. For her makeup, she went with something natural and simple. She paired her dress with black velvet block heels.

At precisely 7 pm, Matthew wrung her door bell. April passed Lexie, who was sitting on the couch and watching some TV. "Apes, you better make me proud tonight! I'm planning on camping out in my room later to give you guys some privacy!" Lexie called out.

April groaned. "Lex! He's literally right behind the door! Keep your voice down! What if he hears you? Besides, this is just a dinner date. We'll see where it goes afterwards."

Lexie wiggled her eyebrows at April. "So, you're not completely ruling out sleeping with him?"

"Ugh, shut up! I'm opening the door now!"

When April opened the door, Matthew greeted her with a wide smile. "Hey, April!"

"Hi, Matthew." April greeted back.

"Wow, April you look amazing!"

"Thank you," April shyly replied as she tucked a loose lock of hair behind her air. "Should we head out now?"

"Yeah, sure. Lead the way."

As April was closing the door, she heard Lexie yell out, "Be safe, kids!" Matthew heard her and nervously chuckled.

April groaned. "Ugh. Just ignore her. That was my roommate Lexie…she can be a little extra sometimes."

Mathew chuckled. "No worries."

Matthew ended up taking her to an Italian restaurant in downtown Seattle. It was a nice restaurant. The lights were low and warm, creating a romantic, intimate vibe. April and Matthew sat at a little corner booth. April was impressed. She liked the ambiance of the restaurant and she appreciated the effort he had put in. The waiter brought around menus for the pair. April and Mathew ordered their dinner, each opting to choose pasta dishes, and Matthew ordered a bottle of wine for the table.

As they waited for their dinner to arrive and sipped on their wine, Matthew and April settled into an easy conversation—mostly talking about work. They figured that since that was how they had first met, it was an easy topic to talk about.

After their entrees arrived, April and Matthew tucked into their dinner. There was silence between them for a couple minutes and April broke it. "So, what made you want to become a paramedic?"

Matthew swallowed his bite before answering. "Um, after high school I decided to join the army. My father and uncle were in the army, so it was kind of always expected that I would join too. I grew up admiring them. For a time, I was excited to follow in their footsteps. I ended up being deployed in Iraq for a couple years. Just seeing the injuries sustained by not only U.S. soldiers, but also civilians was awful," Matthew explained.

"I'm sorry. That must've been awful for you," April offered.

"Yeah, it was terrible. After my tour ended, I decided not to enlist again, but I was still deeply impacted by what I saw. I lost some of my men and there were so many civilians who we weren't able to help. The hospitals had been attacked and we were limited in our medical personnel. There was so much death and destruction and I couldn't take it anymore, you know? When my tour ended, I decided to stay here and become a paramedic. I feel like it gives me purpose. I'm sorry, this isn't exactly a great first date conversation. I'm sorry I killed the mood."

April reached over and took his hand into hers. "No, you didn't kill the mood, Matthew! I'm glad that we're talking about real stuff. I like that. It's actually really inspiring. You're really brave for what you do. I, unfortunately, don't really have some awe-inspiring story for why I decided to pursue a career in medicine," April said, as she nervously chuckled.

"What inspired you to pursue medicine?" Matthew asked, turning the conversation to her.

"Well, I was completely surrounded by medicine growing up. My older sister is a surgeon. Her husband—well, now ex-husband—and all of his sisters are all doctors. Some of them are surgeons while others are in different specialties. They all made a huge impact on me growing up, so it was ultimately because of them that I chose to pursue medicine and surgery. I wanted to be just like them. I just wanted to me like them."

"Hey, I like that story! It's a lot less morbid than mine; it's actually really sweet."

They settled into an easy conversation again. After they finished their dinner, Matthew made an offer to April. "I've had a couple glasses of wine, so I shouldn't really be driving just yet. How about we get the check now? There's this little gelato place around the corner. We can pick up desert from there and walk to the waterfront and stroll around for a little? It's all within walking distance."

April bit her bottom lip shyly. She hadn't come on this date with a lot of expectations, but she had to admit that she was having an amazing time with Matthew. "I'd like that. Sounds like a good plan to me."

Matthew called for the check and the waiter swiftly brought it out. After paying for the bill, Matthew led April out of the restaurant and to the gelato shop around the corner. April chose a scoop of mango and a scoop of vanilla bean gelato while Matthew opted for two scoops of dark chocolate. They walked down to the water front which was just a little under two blocks away.

April smiled when the Seattle waterfront finally came to view. It reminded her of her homes—both New York City and Boston. Living in those two cities, she had always been so used to being by the water. They weren't exactly cities filled with warm beaches, but there was something comforting about being by the water. The sight of the blue waves soothed her soul. It was one of the features of Seattle that had helped her to ultimately decide to move across the country when Addison had called. She had figured that it wouldn't be too different from the two cities she had come to call home. However, she had been too busy in the months since she had become a surgical intern to actually visit the port or waterfront. The soft summer breeze tousled her hair and, for the first since she had arrived, Seattle was starting to feel like home. "Thank you for bringing me here, Matthew! This reminds me of home—both New York and Boston," April explained.

"You've told me a little bit about your time in medical school in Boston. What was it like growing up in the Big Apple? What's your family like?" Matthew asked.

April faltered for a second. It's not that she wasn't already used to being asked about her parents or family by men who she had dated previously. She had always evaded that question or given some half-assed explanation without delving into any personal details. She would tell them that she wasn't particularly too close to her parents, but that she and her sister were quite close. It had been easy and the men hadn't pried for more information. She had never had an extremely emotionally involved relationship before. All of her previous relationships—though not many of them—had been easy and casual. They hadn't been too particularly serious and there had never been a hypothetical situation where a boyfriend expected her to introduce him to her parents.

However, that wasn't the problem currently at hand. Why was she having a tough time answering the question when she had always had an answer ready in the past? She knew the answer right away: Jackson. In the past, she had only trusted one person outside of Addison and Derek with personal information about herself and that was Lexie. Even then, it had taken her a couple years of friendship with Lexie to finally tell her about April's family. However, she had already shared so much with Jackson in the short few months since she had arrived in Seattle. It was all because…she trusted him. She felt a connection with him. Why did she trust him so blindly? Why? April repeated the question to herself in her head.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Matthew's voice. "April, are you okay? April? I'm sorry if I brought up a sensitive topic. You don't have to say anything…"

April cut him off. This was getting awkward and her silence had gotten him nervous. "No, it's not that! Um, growing up in such a big city was kind of actually really nice. There's a lot of different people in New York and there's a lot of culture. The MET museum and Brooklyn Bridge are two of my favorite landmarks. Besides that, there's so many small amazing places to discover. I love the diversity and little whole-in-the-wall restaurants from food all over the word. I loved growing up in New York City. I guess I'm just a city girl," April supplied, hoping that her answer would satisfy his question. She had evaded the question about her parents all together. It felt weird to talk about them now. She wasn't sure if it was because of the unexpected call from her father a couple weeks back or the fact that she had been able to tell Jackson about everything so openly. It felt weird to have to lie to a guy about her parents and life now. Her experience with her family had obviously played a huge role in developing who she was today and, while she wasn't ashamed about it, it certainly wasn't a topic that she felt comfortable talking about with just anybody. It felt weird to hide a part of herself when she had finally gotten a chance to bare her soul to somebody—Jackson.

At the end of their date, April and Matthew walked back to his car and they drove back to her apartment. Throughout the car ride, April's thoughts were in turmoil. She couldn't help but over think this entire situation. That's just what she did. She liked Matthew. She really did. He was a nice guy, he was handsome, and he had been an absolute gentleman tonight. The date had been great. Despite all of that, there was just something lacking in her dynamic with Matthew. She didn't feel a connection or spark with him. She knew that the reason for which she couldn't bring herself to continue this further with Matthew was because of one person, but she couldn't bring herself to even think his name yet. She couldn't let herself do that yet. That would likely lead to a mental breakdown that she wasn't prepared for yet. For god's sake, she was still in the car with Matthew! Here she was, finishing off an amazing date with a great guy, but she was thinking about someone else. All she knew was that she would have to tell Matthew that they were better off as just friends.

She nervously chewed on her bottom lip as dread filled her. She felt terrible. Matthew had done everything right tonight, but here she was, about to break his heart. He had been an absolute gentleman the whole night, but her mind had kept drifting to thoughts about another man. He didn't deserve that from her and she felt terrible about it.

When they arrived at her apartment building, April turned to face him in the car. She just had to break it to him. "Matthew, I had a great time tonight, but…"

"I'm not going to get a second date, am I?" He nervously asked. He had noticed her becoming more and more distant as the night had progressed.

April cringed "It's not you! It's…." Shit, she definitely didn't want to give him a half-assed explanation with the whole 'it's not you, it's me' spiel. She took a deep breath and started again. "I do like you! I really do. It's just that I think we're better off as friends than something more," she finally said.

"There's another guy, isn't there?" He guessed.

April sighed. "Yeah, I think there might be…"

"Well, whoever he is, he's a lucky man."

April nervously laughed. She'd rather not get into that with Matthew. "I'd still really like it if we could stay friends. I do enjoy your company, Matthew," She offered.

He gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I'd like that."

April reached over and gave him a chaste peck on his cheek. He deserved at least that much after taking her out on a nice date and being a complete gentleman. "Seriously, I had a nice time today. I really loved walking around the waterfront with you. I needed that; it made me feel like I was at home again."

"No problem, April. You'll let me know if you ever need company to walk around Seattle's waterfront, right?"

April smiled at him. "Of course, Matthew. I better head inside now. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, April. I'll see you around at the hospital."

When April walked into her apartment, she headed straight for Lexie's room. It wasn't too late yet, so she knew that her roommate would still be up. She knocked on Lexie's door. "Lex, come out! Come drink some wine with me. I need someone to talk to."

April headed back to the kitchen and took out two wine glasses from the cupboard and a bottle of wine from the cabinet. Lexie followed after her. "What's up, Apes? I was hiding out in my room because I thought you might be brining Matthew back to the apartment tonight."

April chucked in response. "Lex, you know it's not exactly my style to sleep with a guy after only going out on one measly date with him. Besides, I don't think Matthew will ever make it to the inside of this apartment."

Lexie frowned in response. "Why? What's wrong? Did your date go horribly? Was he an asshole? I thought you said that he was a nice guy."

"No, no. It's not any of that. It was a nice date, but I told him that I thought we were better off as just friends."

"So, what's the problem then?"

"That's what I need to talk to you about. Let's go over to the couch with our wine and talk," April suggested.

"What's wrong, Apes? You're starting to scare me a little bit," Lexie said as they settled on to the couch.

April chuckled in response. "It's really not that serious. Or maybe it is, depending on how you see it. Either way, I think I'm actually really screwed." April took a took a deep breath before continuing. "I think I have actual real, deep feelings for Jackson Avery and I don't know what to do about it."

Lexie started at her friend for five seconds and then burst into laughter. April looked at her friend in shock and a little bit of hurt. "Apes, don't get offended. I'm not laughing at the fact that you have feelings for Jackson Avery. It's the fact that it took you this long to finally figure it out."

April narrowed her eyes at her friend suspiciously. "What are you talking about, Lex?"

"Apes, I don't know the whole story between the two of you, but I have noticed how you guys interact when you're at work. You're just so at ease around him. It's honestly really refreshing because I know you've never really been entirely comfortable around any guy before."

April softened when she heard her friend's explanation, but then she groaned. "Lex, I think I might be too deep in already and I don't know what to do about it. We're friends! We're supposed to be _just _friends! He's my supervising resident and I'm his intern! He doesn't see me that way," April sadly explained.

"Okay, let's just talk this out. Explain everything to me. Start from the beginning. Sometimes just talking about it and letting it all out can give you some clarity," Lexie offered.

April started from the beginning and told Lexie about the very first day of her internship, starting from how Jackson had took her to the rooftop. He had comforted her so easily that day. Without knowing her too well at that point, he had just known to say the right things to make her feel better. After that, he had been a huge help in her transition to life at Seattle Grace Hospital. He wasn't just her supervising resident. He was also a source of support and comfort for her. She was at ease around him. He made her laugh. Slowly, they had somehow become each other's confidants. She told Lexie about the unexpected phone call from her father that day and how it had led her to spiral into a small mental breakdown. Jackson had found her that day and he had said the perfect words to comfort her. Somehow, he understood her perfectly. She trusted him like no other man she had ever trusted before. She had never told any other person—besides Lexie—about the things she had told him. She just felt safe with him, like he would protect her. And that was a feeling that she hadn't even known was possible for her to feel with any man—certainly not her father. She had never even come close to feeling like that with any of her previous boyfriends. Despite all of that, she knew that Jackson and she were just friends. He saw her only as a friend. He wasn't even a little attracted to her. He would only ever see her as a friend and she would somehow have to live to be okay with that. She would have to settle for that somehow if she wanted to keep him in her life. After April finished explaining everything to Lexie, the two friends were silent for several minutes, simply letting all of it sink in.

April finally broke the silence. "I'm in danger of falling," April murmured as she took another sip of her wine.

"Shit, April, you really are screwed!"

April dryly laughed in response. "And don't I know it." She downed the rest of her wine and reached to pour herself another glass.

**A/N: Okay, I know that was an emotional rollercoaster and I didn't even have any actual interactions between April and Jackson! However, I think this chapter was important in establishing April's feelings and where she stands in regards to him. In addition, I wanted to really explore April and Addison's relationship here! And I dropped a twist! Are you guys curious about Patrick? Hope you enjoyed it! Please be sure to leave me a review of what you think! **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey, guys! I'm back! Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews on the last chapter. I'm so excited because starting from this chapter and the next, things are really going to rapidly pick up. So, please let me know what you think in a review. –Mia **

**Chapter Ten: Don't Ask, Don't Tell **

Currently, Meredith, Izzie, George, Jackson, Lexie and April were congregated at the board used for announcements on the Surgery wing's floor. They were staring at a particular clipping from a newspaper article.

"Area surgeon takes prestigious reward," April read the headline out loud. Then, she moved on to the caption at the bottom of the picture. "Dr. Preston Burke, 2008 Harper Avery Award winner."

"Is that—?" Lexie started asking.

Izzie cut her off. "The man Christina jeopardized her career for? Her ex-fiancé? The man she was supposed to marry? The man who left her at the alter? The man that just quit working here and vanished from Seattle?"

"Did you know, Jackson? Did you know about this?" Meredith demanded.

"No, of course not! I had no idea! I'm not on the selection committee and my grandfather rarely talks to me about these things. I try to stay as least involved as I can. I usually find out about these things when it's announced to the public. This is news to me too," Jackson defended himself.

"Well, at least we now have confirmation that Seattle Grace is cursed and no doctor will ever receive the award as long as they're working here," George lowly muttered. He was referring to the fact that there had been talk around the hospital when Jackson had first arrived to do his internship that no doctor at Seattle Grace would ever receive the Harper Avery Award as long as Jackson was affiliated with the hospital.

Jackson shot him a dirty glare. "Hey, watch it, man!" He would always be sensitive about his family name and legacy and how it impacted how others saw his work as a surgeon. It was something he was self-conscious about. He, like Alex, wasn't particularly too fond of George. They had never been close. Of the second-year residents, it was mainly Meredith and Izzie who were close with him.

"Has Christina seen it yet?" Meredith asked, referring to the clipping of the newspaper article tacked to the board.

"Let's take it down," Izzie said, motioning to take the tacks off. "Take it down, just take it down. She never has to know." Izzie motioned for George to do the honors.

"She's gonna hear about it," Meredith said.

"Who's gonna hear about what?" Christina called out from behind them.

The group of doctors quickly turned around and tried to hide the piece of paper behind them.

Christina eyed them suspiciously and walked closer. "Izzie, move your hand. Oh, come one, move it!" Christina took one look at the board and her facial expression changed. She masked her features into a calmness, but she felt fury underneath. "Good for him." She walked away.

The other surgeons watched her with worry. "Is she going to be okay?" April asked.

Currently, Alex, Jackson and April were sitting at the cafeteria and eating lunch together. In the four and a half months since April had become an intern at Seattle Grace Hospital, April was finally starting to find her group of people. Sure, Derek, Mark and Addison were her family. But, they were all attendings—heads of departments at that too. It's not like she, as an intern, could exactly hang out with them constantly at the hospital. Not to mention, she wasn't some socially awkward person who couldn't form new friendships.

Slowly, Lexie and she had become friends with Meredith Grey and her band of misfit surgeons. Obviously, Jackson had become one of her closest friends and a huge source of comfort since her first day of her internship. However, she had had a rocky start with the others with her being Addison's little sister. They had been mistrusting of her as they had with Lexie. Despite that, in just a few weeks, they had formed a solid friendship with the second-year residents.

George came to their table and loudly dropped a clipboard. "I need your form."

"What's this?" Lexie asked as she approached the table with her lunch tray.

"The sex police," Alex grumbled.

"Meredith, I'm gonna need you to fill out the form," George said as Meredith approached the table.

"Don't ask, don't tell, George. Forms are stupid," Meredith shot back.

"Yeah, I'm still gonna need it, though. Pen?" George asked.

Rose slowly approached George. "I, um…think I'll need one of those after all," she whispered. The whole table had heard her despite her efforts of trying to be discreet.

"What? Oh…." George said. He discreetly tried to hand her a form, but the whole table watched it happen. Meredith watched Rose with hard eyes, while April awkwardly started playing around with her salad.

Rose muttered a quick "thank you" to George and dashed away.

"Oh, God. I'm so sorry," Lexie told Meredith.

"Do you want me to get Christina?" George asked her.

"Derek is with Rose, and I'm okay that Derek is with Rose," she replied with a fake smile plastered on her face.

"Oh, I need to get one of these forms to Christina too," George muttered.

"Uh, you—you don't want to go near Christina right now," Lexie said.

"Why, is she crying?" Meredith asked.

"No," Lexie replied.

"Is she staring straight ahead and being super-scary quiet?" Meredith asked.

"She's singing," Lexie replied.

Meredith gave her a look of shock and promptly got up and waked away.

"I still need your form!" George called out to her.

"What is this form even for?" April asked.

"The Chief needs to know which other Seattle Grace employees that you've engaged in a sexual relationship with," George meekly stated.

"Okay, that's not creepy or perverted or anything," Jackson said.

"Why do we even need to fill out these forms?" April asked.

"The nurses are boycotting Dr. Sloan and his O.R. They don't have grounds for a lawsuit since it was all consensual. However, the board wants to take a precaution just in case for the future," George explained.

"The nurses are _boycotting _his O.R.?" Jackson asked.

"Way to go, Sloan!" Alex joked. The girls rolled their eyes at him.

"This is so typical of Mark. Some things just never change," April muttered.

"He was like this in New York?" Lexie asked.

"Yeah, Mark had a reputation for sleeping around with the nurses, doctors, and basically every woman who worked at the hospital. He's Mark; it's what he does," April explained.

"I can respect that!" Alex joked again. The girls rolled their eyes at him again.

"Anyways, I'm not going to need one of these forms," April said as she handed the piece of paper back to George.

"I thought you were going out with that dorky paramedic, Little Red," Alex said.

"First of all, paramedics and ambulatory services aren't technically employed by the hospital. So, Matthew wouldn't even count. Not that it matters, but it was just one date. Nothing ever happened," April awkwardly said the last part.

"You're not dating him?" Jackson asked. Lexie eyed him suspiciously.

"Nope," April said, popping the "p" at the end.

"You never told me anything about him," Jackson muttered, more to himself than to April. To be honest, Jackson had heard from Lexie that April had gone out with the dorky, awkward paramedic once. However, he hadn't heard much after that. In the couple weeks since he had first heard about their date, he had still seen the paramedic lurking around the hallways. He often saw April and Matthew talking and drinking coffee together. He couldn't exactly put his finger on it, but the guy just rubbed Jackson the wrong way. There was something off about him. He had simply assumed that April was dating the guy, despite how much it irked Jackson. April's admission that there was nothing going on between the two of them left Jackson feeling relieved. For a moment, Jackson wondered to himself why he had been so fixated on the possibility of their relationship. He shook his head and mused that it was probably because he wanted the best for his friend. He cared for April and he didn't want to see her get hurt by some mediocre guy. She deserved better than that. Jackson was pulled out of his thoughts by April's voice.

"Well, you never asked," April nonchalantly replied. "I don't understand why we're focusing on this or why it matters, but Matthew and I are just friends—nothing more."

"Well, what's wrong with him then?" Alex asked.

"Nothing's wrong with him," April said defensively.

"Well, you went out with the guy once, but then you didn't sleep with him and decided that you wanted to be just friends with him. Is he not well endowed, Little Red?" Alex bluntly teased April.

"Alex!" April's cheeks reddened.

"What? Don't tell me you're a virgin," Alex continued teasing her.

"Alex," Jackson said in warning.

"I'm not a virgin!" April snapped.

"Uh huh, sure you aren't," Alex continued despite the warnings against him.

"Not that it's any of your business, but April's definitely not a virgin," Lexie came to her friend's defense.

"Oh my god, Lex…" April huffed with annoyance.

"How would you know, Little Grey? So, did you two ever…you know, experiment with each other?" Alex asked, pointing to April and Lexie with a smirk on his face.

April threw her napkin at Alex. "You're a pig!" Lexie called out.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Here, perv boy. Enjoy," Alex said as he handed his form to George. April caught one of the names on Alex's form and her jaw dropped.

"MY SISTER?! You slept with Addison?" April sharply accused Alex.

Alex brushed it off. "And this is why this whole form is a dumb and unnecessary idea. Don't worry about it too much, Little Red. It's ancient history." April looked at him in shock.

George took one look at it and immediately said, "This isn't complete." He handed the form back to Alex.

Alex took a quick look at it. "It's fine. What?"

George subtly tried motioning towards Lexie with his yes.

"Oh, right. Sorry. I forgot" Alex took out his pen and quickly scribbled something in. They presumed it was Lexie's name. Alex handed the form back to George and walked away from the table.

"He forgot he had sex with me?!" Lexie groaned with frustration.

"Hey, I'm just here to collect the forms," George said.

"Oh my God, I still can't believe Alex and Addison were ever a thing," April said.

"He _forgot _he had sex with me?" Lexie practically yelled. "Oh my god, I'm going to need to call up all my ex-boyfriends. Jackson, do you think Henry has forgotten that he had sex with me?"

Jackson coughed when Lexie bluntly asked him that. He took a long sip of his water and the waiting had Lexie on the edge of her seat. "Um, I haven't talked to Henry in a while, but, no, I don't think so, Lex," Jackson finally said.

"Are you sure?" Lexie asked anxiously. "Oh my god, I'm just going to go and call all of my exes or something. I'll catch you guys later." Lexie quickly left the cafeteria, leaving April and Jackson at the table and George still hovering over them.

Jackson finished off his form and handed it to George. April glanced at it briefly and tried to not get nauseated by the long list of names on Jackson's form. She pursed her lips. She reminded herself that it was none of her business. They were just friends. At least, that's all she resigned herself to ever being to him. That's all he saw her as. She wasn't going to let herself be affected by this. It's not like he owed her anything. "I'm gonna head out, April. I need to check on Mr. Roy. I'll see you later," Jackson said to her. April simply nodded at him and watched him go.

April sighed loudly as she completed charts at the nurses' station. She was tired, exhausted, and a migraine was starting to form. She rubbed her temples, willing it to go away. She rubbed her neck to ease the tension.

Mark leaned against the counter next to April and bit into an apple as he looked at her in contemplation.

April could feel his eyes on her. "What?"

"Little Red, you're too stressed by work."

April rolled her eyes at him, but kept her eyes on her charting. "Yes, Mark. That's precisely what's part of being a surgical intern. You guys, the attendings and residents, give us work and we have to deal with it."

Mark chuckled. "Right, but that's why you need to find a good stress reliever."

April perked up at this and looked at Mark. "What do you suggest, Mark? Yoga?"

Mark chuckled. "Similar, but this takes a little bit more teamwork."

April narrowed her eyes at him. She still wasn't following what he was saying. "What exactly are suggesting, Mark?"

Mark cleared his throat. How could he delicately approach this matter with April? "Derek, your sister and I were talking. We all agreed it would do you some good to begin seeing someone. You've probably been lonely since moving out here and Patrick and you broke up, so…"

April groaned. "Mark, I appreciate the love, but I really don't need you guys to interfere in my personal life."

"Are you sure, Little Red? I could work some magic. I mean I might as well be cupid. I mean look at Derek!"

"Wait a second. What do you mean?"

Mark paused. Should he be discussing Derek's love life with Addison's younger sister? He reminded himself that April was still Derek's younger sister too. "I sensed a little something going on between Derek and that nurse. Derek was hesitating, so I talked him through it."

April saw her opportunity to move the topic of conversation away from herself. "Mark! Why would you do that?!"

"What? What did I do wrong?"

"This may be difficult for you to understand, but Meredith is Derek's person." April said with conviction.

"_Person_? What do you mean?"

"It's simple. Derek is Meredith's person. Meredith is Derek's person. They _will _find their way back to each other."

Mark narrowed his eyes at April. "Little Red, don't tell you believe any of that soulmate nonsense. That stuff is for the fairytales you grew up watching, not real life."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I don't believe in soulmates. However, I do believe that if you find a person—someone who understands every minute detail of your being and knows your soul—then you should never let that person go."

Mark eyed April in suspicion. "Is there someone you've been seeing in secret and you haven't told anyone? You sound like…you're talking from experience."

April scoffed. "No, Mark, but even if I was, I wouldn't tell you." She stuck out her tongue at him playfully like she would do at him when she had been younger.

Mark chuckled. "You're lying to me and I'm going to figure it out."

"Mark, I'm really not seeing anyone. I promise."

At that moment, Jackson approached the nurses' station. "What are you guys laughing about?"

"Little Red has a secret boyfriend and she won't tell me anything about him," Mark said with a smirk.

Jackson's head whipped up at that. "I thought you said that you weren't seeing that paramedic."

April blanched. What kind of a mess had Mark landed her in? "I'm not! I promise you that I'm not! Mark just likes to joke around a lot. He's a joker. That's what Mark is. Right, Mark?" April realized that her nervous rambling was only getting her into deeper trouble.

The situation on hand slowly dawned on Mark. Mark's smirk grew into a wide grin. When April's eyes met Mark's, she realized what he had just realized it. "You know what I'm actually being paged. So, I should go," April quickly said.

"But, no one is paging you," Jackson said.

"Right, but, you know, that patient in 36B really needs to be checked. I'm just going to go and do that now," April quickly replied. She left the nurses' station quickly before either Mark or Jackson could say anything more.

Jackson looked at Mark with confusion. "Am I missing something? Did April seem a little off to you?"

"I wouldn't worry about it. You'll figure it out in time, Avery. Anyways, what can I do to convert you to plastics? I have an ear reconstruction that you might be interested in."

April was in Mrs. Brennan's room, changing her gastric tube. Mrs. Brennan was a sweet, older lady. She was a bit chatty, but April didn't mind it much. She was friendly.

"Okay, Mrs. Brennan. You are all set. The area should be tender for a few minutes, but that's normal. Let us know if any pain persists," she explained.

"You're such a sweet girl, Dr. Montgomery. So caring and attentive," Mrs. Brennan said.

April shyly tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She was never good with receiving complements no matter who gave it to her. "Thank you, Mrs. Brennan, but I am simply just doing my job," she replied.

"You know, my grandson is supposed to be dropping by later today."

"Oh, really? That's sweet of him. I'm sure it'll be nice to have someone visiting." Despite how sweet she was, Mrs. Brennan was mostly alone during the day at the hospital. Her children had come to visit her in the evenings a few times, but she was by herself most of the time. Her husband had passed away already and it seemed that the rest of her family was too busy to constantly be at her bedside.

"Mm-hmm. You know what would make me happiest?"

"What, Mrs. Brennan?"

"My grandson is getting too old and I'm afraid that I'm going to pass away before he gives me any great-grandchildren. What would make me happiest is if he found a nice girl and finally settled down." Mrs. Brennan gave April a pointed look.

"Oh," April nervously chuckled. She finally understood what Mrs. Brennan meant.

"You know, he works as an engineer in San Francisco. He's very smart and successful—just like you."

"Oh, Mrs. Brennan, that's really sweet, but um…I'm really busy and…he must be really busy too. Not to mention, I'm your doctor and he's your grandson. While I'm really flattered, um, it wouldn't be appropriate," April said.

"Relax, honey! There's nothing wrong in just getting to know each other. I promise he's a sweet boy!"

"Mrs. Brennan, that's okay. I'm fine, really…"

"Is there someone else, honey?"

April raised her eyebrows at Mrs. Brennan. The woman was incredibly perceptive. Was she that obvious in her feelings for Jackson? Was it just written on her face? "Um…" April nervously fidgeted with her hands.

"There is, isn't there?" Mrs. Brennan gave her a knowing look.

"He's….just my friend. We're just friends."

"But you have feelings for him?"

April nervously chuckled. She was never good when she was put on the spot like that. "Yes, um…I guess so." This was the second time she was admitting her feelings for Jackson.

"Well, whoever he is, he's a lucky man. You're a catch, honey! So you have feelings for your friend?"

April was about to respond to Mrs. Brennan, but they were interrupted by the door opening. It was Jackson, completely taking April by surprise. In her nervousness and haste, April dropped the tray she had been holding. She immediately crouched on the ground, trying to hastily gather everything. Jackson immediately moved to help April pick up the materials she had dropped. "You okay there, April?" He asked her.

"Yup!" Her voice came out more high-pitched than she had intended to. She cleared her throat. "It was just a slip of my hands. No big deal. Thanks for the help, Jackson." Once they gathered everything, they stood up. April avoided Jackson's eyes. She hoped and prayed that Jackson hadn't heard Mrs. Brennan and their conversation. She wouldn't be able to live with the awkwardness that would then ensue as a result.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He eyed her suspiciously. Why had April been acting so off the whole day?

Mrs. Brennan, bless her soul, picked up on April's suspicious behavior. "Oh, she's just a little clumsy. I don't mind at all, dear. Is there a reason you came by?"

"Oh, yes. I have your blood test results, Mrs. Brennan. Everything seems to be looking good, although your blood pressure is still elevated. We're going to keep monitoring that to make sure your post-op recovery runs smoothly. Dr. Montgomery, can you please change her medication protocol accordingly?"

"Sure, Dr. Avery. I'll get on that right away," April replied. Jackson nodded and gave her one last odd look before leaving the room.

April turned back towards Mrs. Brennan but avoided eye contact with the older lady. That whole entire encounter had been _so_ embarrassing.

"So, I'm guessing that handsome young man with the dazzling eyes is your _friend_, Dr. Montgomery?"

April gave a nervous laugh and bit her bottom lip. "Yes, he's my friend."

"And is he the friend that you have feelings for?"

"Yes. Yes, he is."

"Well, honey, if I had a friend as handsome and dreamy as him with those mesmerizing eyes, then I would have feelings for him too!"

April nervously laughed again. "Mrs. Brennan, let's get you on that medication, shall we? We want you feeling well when your grandson stops by later, right?"

**A/N: Alright, what did you guys think? Please leave me a review! **


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